


It’s Only Forever

by AcetheHeart



Category: Labyrinth (1986)
Genre: 1986, Canon Timeline, F/M, Female Reader, Gen, Merlin is a Cat!, Reader is Sarah, Retelling, This has been done before, a retelling queen, also on Wattpad, but you know me, we in the eighties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:13:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27479365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AcetheHeart/pseuds/AcetheHeart
Summary: Y/N (that's you!) journeys through a maze to recover her baby brother from the Goblin King.A 1986 Labyrinth retelling where you, the reader, are the star!
Relationships: Jareth (Labyrinth)/Reader, The Goblin King/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	1. Lost and Lonely

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my Labyrinth reader insert! It's going to be a lot like my Phantom of the Opera one. Please enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Take a trip back to 1986! Where you’re stuck watching your baby brother, Toby, when all you want to do is act out your new favorite play.

Late evening sunshine washed over the small town of Upper Nyack, New York. Giving it a safe and warm glow. Peach colored light bounced off a small flowing river, and between that and a line of lush fruit trees, was a glade blossoming with floral life. 

Above the river was a layered brick bridge of intricate design, and on it — a figure running to enter the glade. A young woman, dressed in a costume fit for the twelfth century, ran into the flower covered grass. Her dress swirling around her in the early autumn breeze. The peach light surrounded her, illuminating the golden circlet she was wearing. 

Stopping to pick a flower, our young protagonist frowned before turning suddenly, as if she had heard something beyond reality’s grasp. Pulled from her distraction, she spoke, “give me the child.”

Taking a few hesitant steps, her frown morphed into a dark scowl, “through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen, for my will is as strong as yours, and my kingdom is as great.”

Trailing off slowly with eyes downcast, she repeated the last line timidly, “ _my kingdom is as great_ ,” her expression soured and a clap of thunder rang out, “oh, why can’t I ever remember that line?” 

Digging into her dress’ deep sleeve, she pulled out a paperback book that had been rolled up and tucked behind her shoulder. Searching through the pages, she scanned the paragraphs with her S/C finger, “‘you have no power over me.’”

Thunder rumbled out another warning as a large Maine Coon cat rubbed against our protagonist’s leg, “oh, Merlin,” she quipped playfully, smiling as she completely broke character. Her smile was such a pretty thing, washed away too soon by the chime of a local clock tower, “oh no, Merlin, it’s already seven o’clock!”

Scooping up her cat companion, the young woman broke out into a sprint, nearly clearing the bridge that brought her to the glade in two strides. Running down a hill toward a cracked and ordinary looking street, the peach hue dissipated, a new dull and hazy fog taking its place. The once idyllic glade returned to what it had been in the first place, a rundown park at the edge of town. Yes, it’s once again an ordinary day in a very ordinary place.

Rain hadn’t been in the morning forecast, but the weather wasn’t always fair (and neither was life, as we’re about to see).

“It isn’t fair, it’s not fair!” 

Taking a long path up toward a suburban street, she quickly passed under a tree that acted better as an umbrella than a home. For a beautiful snowy owl had landed moments after her passing, its head turned in a curious state of concentration, fixated on the girl who continued sprinting down the block.

Skidding to a stop once reaching her family’s front porch, she jumped in surprise — her stepmother was waiting there for her, a stern look already stuck to her face, “oh, really!” 

“I’m sorry!”

“Well, don’t just stand there in the rain, come on!”

Correction; her _wicked_ stepmother.

“Alright,” she says, letting her cat down on the covered porch, “come on, Merlin.” 

Her stepmother’s face scrunched into something even more stern (which was possible, apparently), “not the cat!”

Our protagonist scoffed, it was a quick switch from obedient daughter to unruly stepchild, “but it’s pouring!” 

“Go on, into the garage.”

Her piercing E/C eyes hardened, “he’s a cat, not a dog.” Opening the front door, she allowed the cat to scurry inside, much to her stepmother’s dismay (and annoyance). She made quick work of her costume dress, revealing faded jeans and a regular shirt underneath.

“Y/N, you’re an hour late.”

“I said I was sorry!” 

“Please, let me finish.” Her stepmother said, waiting a long pause before continuing, “your father and I go out very rarely.”

That’s how it was going to be? Oh no, not on her watch, “you go out every single weekend.”

“And I ask you to babysit only if it won’t interfere with your plans.”

“How would you know? You don’t know what my plans are, you don’t even ask me anymore!”

“Well, I assume you’d tell me if you had a date.” She began following Y/N, her stepdaughter trying to escape up the stairs, “I’d like it if you had a date, you should have dates at your age.”

What was that supposed to mean? One minute they were talking about plans, then all the sudden plans turned into a date.

It seemed that the dull and hazy fog from outside had finally settled over the living room, and her father couldn’t do anything to blow it back out the door. “Ah, Y/N, you’re home! We were worried about you,” he said, putting his free hand on her shoulder. Occupying her father’s other arm was her squirming little brother, Toby. Crying and whining over something obsolete, all while her life was falling apart around her. 

Toby was her half brother actually, but she never considered him as less of a sibling because of it. Really, Y/N wasn’t sure how to feel about Toby sometimes; half the time she wanted to take him away to a fantasy world with her, but the other half? It was at times like this when she hated him. Hated him for not being able to watch himself, hated him for being the son of someone who wasn’t her mother. Just hated him.

Having enough of the evening already, Y/N rushed up the stairs, dismissing her father and his attempt at a comforting hand.

“She treats me like a wicked stepmother in a fairy story, no matter what I say.” Her stepmother made the accusation with an ugly expression — but with all that blue eyeshadow, what expression wouldn’t be ugly? 

There wasn’t much Y/N’s father could do, and he knew that. His daughter and his wife didn’t get along, but he had to play the middleman and keep the peace, “I’ll talk to her.”

The baby’s cries grew louder as he reached the second floor, but the warm peach atmosphere from before was almost being replicated by the small music box playing on Y/N’s vanity. “Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City...” Her bedroom; her own world. She knew every inch of it, _controlled_ every inch of it. Wooden shelves were filled with an orderly array of childhood dolls and toys, where books were lined neatly (and put in alphabetical order), while pictures of her mother scattered along the edges of her mirror. She wished to be just like her mother. A woman irradiated by blinding stage lights, ink stains decorating her hand from late night Playbill signings, “…to take back the child that you have stolen.” And a warm smile whenever she needed it…

She’s interrupted, “Y/N, could I talk to you?” It was her father, good on his promise. 

Checking herself in the mirror, she adjusted the golden circlet which had been knocked askew in the minutes prior, “there’s nothing to talk about.” She attempted to fix the accessory, but the mood had been ruined, so she removed it completely. Instead, she opted to grab a shimmering pink lipstick. 

“We’ve fed Toby, put him to bed,” he began listing in a gentle tone, leaning against his daughter’s door, “we have to leave now, but we’ll be back around midnight.”

Y/N sighed upon hearing his retreating footsteps and shoved the unused lipstick into her back pocket, “you really wanted to talk to me, didn’t you? Practically broke down the door.” She couldn’t fault her father for his non-confrontational attitude, there was a part of her that wanted to give into her stepmother too, but what would that prove? You can treat another human being any way you want because you married that person’s father? She didn’t think so. She had to push against it, or she’d be knocked down entirely. A ghost of her former self.

Turning her full attention back to the mirror, she only got a few moments to herself before stopping cold, “are you kidding me? Someone has been in my room again!”

The empty space on her shelf looked glaringly out of place — if the night had ended with her father’s weak attempt to speak with her, maybe she could have looked past everything, but this was too much!

She swirled around and rushed out the door, ready to throw a tantrum louder than Toby’s, “where’s Lancelot? Where is my bear?!” Both adults knew better than to take a stuffed toy from her room, _they knew better_! Especially her father, he was there when her mother gifted her the toy. 

Toby’s cries were at full force now, echoing off the wallpaper, giving Y/N a massive headache. Thunder cracked when she finally entered the master bedroom, lighting it for a split second — enough for her to see Toby hanging onto the crib’s sidebars, but more importantly, a teddy bear laying face down on the ground.

“Lancelot!”

Who would give Toby her bear? 

Did the little brat not have his own toys?

Why did parents always favor the younger child?

“I hate you, I hate you!” Y/N growled, grabbing her beloved bear off the carpet, “someone save me, someone take me away from this awful place!”

The room was once more illuminated by a flash of lightning, and Toby cried harder with the crack of thunder that followed. 

Rolling her eyes, she flicked the lights on, realizing he wasn’t going to stop anytime soon, “what do you want?” While she didn’t expect the one year old to actually answer, she did want him to give her an indication of what was wrong. Was he hungry? Did he need a diaper change? “Do you want a story?”

He continued to cry at a nauseating volume, causing her to squeeze her bear before sitting him down on her parents bed (like a proper gentleman, he shouldn’t have to lie on the floor).

“Huh? Okay,” she’d give him a story, “once upon a time, there was a beautiful young girl whose stepmother always made her stay home with the baby. The baby was a spoiled child. He wanted everything for himself, and the girl was practically a slave.”

Toby whimpered, but for the most part, he stopped — watching in teary eyed wonder as his older sister leaned over the crib.

“What no one knew, however, was that the Goblin King fell in love with her and gave her certain powers.” _The Labyrinth_ had quickly become one of Y/N’s favorite plays. Being whisked away from an abusive household into a world full of glamorous parties and adventure sounded pretty good to her, “so, one night, when the baby had been particularly cruel to her, she called on the goblins for help.”

Somewhere else, somewhere far away, a sleeping goblin snapped awake. With a gasp he shouted, “listen!”

“‘Say your right words,’ the goblins said, ‘and we’ll take the baby to the Goblin City, and you will be free.’” Y/N carried on, none the wiser to the swirl of rain building up outside. Her voice lowered dangerously, “but the girl knew that the King of the Goblins would keep the baby in his castle forever and ever and turn it into a goblin. So, the girl suffered in silence until one night when she was tired from a day of housework and hurt by the harsh words of her stepmother — she could no longer stand it.”

Her baby brother didn’t like the tone shift in her voice and started crying again, causing Y/N to groan. 

“Oh, alright! Alright, knock it off.” Her voice lifted back to normal, but the rain still pounded against the window, “come on, stop it!” Hoisting the child into the air, Y/N started bouncing him. He didn’t respond well, wailing to the point that she thought he might give himself a headache. Which would only make him cry more, “ _stop it_!”

How could they leave her here? Slaving away every weekend, “I’ll say the words…” Y/N suddenly threatened, her anger white hot and boiling over the edge, “no, I mustn’t, I mustn’t say that I… _I wish_.”

The collection of goblins gasped; there were two different kinds of gasps, mind you. Half believed she wouldn’t say it — the other half on the edge of their seats, knowing she would. 

“I wish!” 

“She’s going to say it!” A goblin yelled excitedly, knocking into the one’s around him.

Another goblin, a much slower one, frowned, “say what?”

“Shut up!”

“ _You_ shut up!”

One of them shushed the rest, “listen! She’s going to say the words!”

“I can bear it no longer,” Y/N spoke dramatically, holding the baby away from her, “Goblin King! Goblin King! Wherever you may be, take this child of mine far away from me!”

“That’s not it!” The goblins groaned, “where’d she learn that rubbish?”

The slower one crossed his big arms, “it didn’t even start with ‘I wish’!”

Toby threw his head back and forth as he cried, trying to wiggle out of his sister’s arms. He was slowly growing more and more agitated, as if he could sense something coming — something sinister just below the surface of her words. 

Sighing, she put him back in his crib, “oh, Toby, stop it.”

Her head was beginning to pound, she needed to find some aspirin. Leaving the crying baby, she made her way to the en suite’s medicine cabinet and began rummaging. Strangely, there was nothing but bug spray and showering products.

Oh, but of course! Toby could do no wrong, nothing he could do could ever give their parents a headache. Understanding that, she whispered to herself, “I wish I did know what to say to make the goblins take you away.” 

“‘I wish the goblins would come take you away right now’! That’s not hard, is it?!” A goblin jumped, riling the rest of them up again.

“ _I wish_ …”

“Did she say it?”

The other’s shushed him again, “shut up!”

Using the doorway to whip herself out of the bathroom, Y/N stomped over to the bedroom door, hardly sparing a glance at the baby. He never stopped crying, he _would_ never stop crying! 

Flicking the light switch with her head downturned, she finally spoke under her breath, “I wish the goblins would come take you away… _right now_.”


	2. A Crystal Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You didn’t expect the Goblin King to be real, but he is — and now you have to solve his labyrinth.

The hallway was silent. Nothing but the soft crunch of carpet and the pittering of the rain were noticeable; Toby’s crying had stopped completely as soon as she left the master bedroom. 

Angelic strands of crystal moonlight streamed through her stepmother’s sheer blue curtains. It was the only thing keeping Y/N from being plunged into total darkness, the storm outside being the only thing keeping her from thinking she had lost her hearing all together. “Toby?” She murmured, “Toby, are you alright?” Her breathing quickened as worry constricted her chest; what happened? Babies didn’t just stop crying, did they?

If his cries had died down slowly over time, she would have understood (that would have been normal), but to stop so abruptly? Babies didn’t do that!

Her newfound fear was almost crippling, everything around her felt like it was in slow motion. She pushed herself forward, nearly running into the doorframe, “why aren’t you crying?”

Without thinking she flipped the light switch. It didn’t work. Nervously flipping it a few more times, she made a small noise of distress. When had the power gone out?

The rain had slowed down somewhat, now the only sound coming from outside was the gentle roll of thunder in the distance. Wind rustled through tree branches, sweeping in an eerie feeling that she couldn’t shake, and along with that eerie feeling — a strange repetitive giggling from her baby brother’s crib.

Y/N slowly crept toward the laughter and carefully leaned over; gripping the baby’s blanket, she yanked it back with an unneeded amount of force (a force that would have definitely spooked whatever was giggling there). Jumping away, a cry came forth from the back of her throat; Toby was gone!

Monotonous laughter began surrounding her. Shadows whipped back and forth across her peripheral vision. No, it couldn’t be… 

Gusts of wind picked up, rattling the window. Only, it wasn’t just the wind this time — it was also a snowy owl! She stepped back, covering her face when the window flew open. Rain droplets scattered across the bedroom, coating her in a layer of uncomfortable precipitation.

Lowering her arms, she gawked, expecting an owl to be loose in her parent’s room, but there wasn’t an owl; _there was a man_. Standing tall, untouched by the rain he was letting in (but covered in an odd amount of glitter), was a man wearing an extravagant costume. Blond locks, like that of a hair band member, puffed out at the crown and flowed from the nape down to the waist. He wore a long black cape that touched the floor, its popped collar standing high and proud. The inner lining was a midnight sapphire, matching his eyeshadow (and subsequently the eyeshadow her stepmother had been wearing earlier that evening). Under his cape was a black leather suit riddled with detailing she had never seen and didn’t understand. A strange pendant, leather gloves, and knee high boots finished off the ensemble, triggering something in the back of her mind. She knew exactly who this was. 

Sucking in a breath, she met his gaze — momentarily dazzled by his uneven pupils, “you’re him, aren’t you? You’re—” Jareth, “the Goblin King.”

He smirked, eyeing her in a silent ploy to prove himself. 

However, now wasn’t the time to be caught off guard by his smirk and wandering eyes, “I want my brother back, please, if it’s all the same.”

“What’s said is said.” His voice was deeper than expected and, if she was being honest, just as dazzling as his eyes and ensemble.

Her brain blanked, betraying her. It took a few long seconds before she could even try grasping for another thought, “I didn’t mean it!”

“Oh, you didn’t?” Jareth nearly grinned as he stepped closer, taunting her. 

Her eyes dashed across his face and she couldn’t help but think that _he was so gorgeous_. No matter where they held the production, they wouldn’t get a Goblin King like him. Squeezing her eyes shut quickly, she pushed the thought out of her mind. _Focus, Y/N_! Opening her eyes again, she went on, “please, where is he?”

He began walking forward, and in response she moved back — as if they had choreographed a dance. Jareth stopped once the back of her knees hit the bed’s mattress, “you know very well where he is.” 

The Goblin City. 

Was he there already? 

“Please, bring him back,” she begged, “please.”

“Y/N…” Jareth tutted, “go back to your room, play with your toys and your costumes,” he paused, smiling wickedly, “forget about the baby.”

“I can’t,” she absolutely could not! Not only was Toby her responsibility (her parents would kill her if something happened to him), but she couldn’t just stand by and let him get turned into a goblin! Left to wonder what life would have been like if he had gotten to be a regular human child.

He ignored her and smiled, “I’ve brought you a gift.” His smiles before had been nice, but this once sent a chill down her spine. He brought his hand eye level, and in it a glassen orb materialized.

“What is it?” 

“It’s a crystal.” He told her, maneuvering it as if it were a magnet and his hand metal. “Nothing more,” the crystal rolled from his palm to the back of his hand, taking a path through his fingers before he grasped it again, “but if you turn it this way and look into it, it will show you your dreams.”

Glancing back and forth between his eyes and the orb, she saw something white and billowy — almost like twirling fabric. She didn’t understand it and she didn’t get enough time to, not before it was pulled away.

“This isn’t a gift for an ordinary girl who takes care of a screaming baby.” Once again this near stranger stepped closer, but Y/N could no longer move back. She was trapped there, face to face with the Goblin King. His uneven pupils took her in, a wicked gleam manifesting in them, “do you want it?” He breathed the question like a plume of smoke, exciting something within her chest. _She wanted it_ ; “then forget the baby.”

Y/N blinked, snapping out of her trance, “I can’t.” 

The Goblin King physically reacted, not expecting her to deny him again.

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate what you’re trying to do for me, but I want my brother back.” He must’ve been so scared.

“Y/N!” Jareth barked; the glass orb, her supposed crystal, shifted — turning into a snake coiled around his palm. He looked down at the creature and uncoiled it, holding it in both hands, “don’t defy me.” Without giving her time to respond, he threw the snake at her throat. She let out a scream, struggling with it until the snake was no longer a snake, but a midnight sapphire scarf floating to the floor. Where it tripled as an angry goblin.

The goblins hidden throughout the room began to snicker, delighted by the tricks of their King.

“You’re no match for me, Y/N.” He went on, encouraged by the cackling of his subjects. 

“I have to have my brother back!”

Moving away from her he swiftly nodded his head upward, a cue for her to come closer on her own. His hand extended toward the window and the view changed, “he’s there, in my castle.”

The sky was set ablaze with orange, more saturated than her own evening sky had been mere hours ago. Crème clouds scattered across a threatening landscape, swallowing rays of hot evening sunshine. Her house was no longer in a New York suburb. Atop a hill, covered in the walls of a maze, sat the castle Jareth had been talking about. It was small, far off in the distance, but Y/N could still make out a high tower pointing up toward the sky — where Toby was. 

“Do you still want to look for him?”

“Is that the castle beyond the Goblin City?” It wasn’t at all how she imagined, everything in this world looked so… _earthy_. There was nothing glamorous about the outskirts of the Underground. When she read the play, she imagined it as a lush green fantasy world, a place where nobles could throw as many parties as they wanted and never tire. Even the glen where the poor mistreated girl lived was livelier than this. The only glamorous thing here was the thin layer of glitter covering everything, and even that was a stretch. She turned slowly, expecting to see the Goblin King still standing in her parents room, but just as quickly as she had blinked, the house was gone.

“Turn back, Y/N! Turn back before it’s too late.”

They were in the Underground, it was already too late.

“I can’t,” she repeated for the final time, “don’t you understand that I can’t?”

“What a pity…” Jareth’s voice was soft, gentle, as though he actually thought it a pity.

Glancing back over at the hill, looking just beyond the Goblin City, she was filled with an unusual (and frankly, unexpected) amount of confidence, “it doesn’t look that far.”

“It’s further than you think.” He replied, his voice now closer. In fact, his whole body was closer, “time is short.”

Hanging on a nearby tree branch, a wooden clock gave off a metronome’s _tick, tick, tick_. Jareth pointed to it and slowly started to back away from the girl, “you have thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth before your baby brother becomes one of us…forever.” The Goblin King then disappeared, leaving the clock, a scraggly looking tree, and an echoed, “ _such a pity_.”

She was alone, just her and a labyrinth. It started as a high masonry wall, extending off in either direction, and as Y/N drew closer she could see various ornamental bushes decorating the base (apparently that was the lush greenery her play had promised). Once at the base she was met with a small figure, a sophisticated goblin perhaps? His back was turned, and only now she noticed that he was peeing into a shallow pond. Awkwardly looking away, she cleared her throat, “excuse me?” 

The person jumped, clearly startled, “oh, uh, excuse me!” He turned quickly, whether to apologize or what, Y/N would never find out, “oh, it’s you.”

It’s her? Frowning, she disregarded the comment. 

This creature looked nothing like the other goblins she’d seen. He was taller for one, more human-like — with graying hair and bushy eyebrows. He even wore a little outfit consisting of a flowy white shirt, orange vest, and tan trousers. 

“Excuse me, but I have to get through this labyrinth. Can you help me?”

“Oh!” The little man grinned (more or less forgetting that there was a person talking to him), chuckling as he scurried off, chasing what looked to be a sparkling butterfly. 

No, wait, not a butterfly…a fairy! Okay, fair enough, she would have forgotten about him too if she had noticed the fairy first, “how sweet!”

Holding an odd contraption, the little man sprayed something into the air around the fairy — causing it to hit the ground, “fifty seven!”

Our protagonist gasped in horror, for she was certain she had just witnessed a murder, “how could you?”

He still wasn’t paying attention to her, murmuring something along the lines of ‘ _yeah_!’ as he kicked dirt onto the fallen creature, proud of his impeccable aim. 

“Poor thing,” cupping her hands around the fairy, she picked up the tiny woman, examining to see if she really had been hurt, “you monster!” Ready to give him an earful, she stepped forward to follow him. She didn’t get very far though, dropping the fairy and crying out at a sudden sharp pain, “it bit me!”

The unhelpful stranger chuckled again, “what did you expect fairies to do?”

“I thought they did nice things,” she admitted softly, almost embarrassed, “like granting wishes.”

“Shows what you know, don’t it?” He replied before spraying another fairy, “fifty eight!”

She frowned, “you’re horrible!”

“No, I ain’t. I’m Hoggle, who are you?”

“Y/N,” she introduced slowly, still cautious of this stranger.

“That’s what I— no, wait, that’s different…” Hoggle turned away from her, spraying his little canister once more. Completely unbothered by the fact that she was ‘different’, “fifty nine!” 

He continued to walk down the side of the Labyrinth, prompting Y/N to follow. Their conversation was far from over, at least, as far as she was concerned. “Do you know where the door to the Labyrinth is?”

“Hm, maybe.”

Rolling her eyes, she picked up a little speed, “well, where is it?”

Hoggle was still ignoring her, in fact, she was pretty sure he hadn’t heard her at all.

“Oh, you little…” spritz, “wah, sixty!” 

Stepping forward more forcefully, she spoke up, “I said, ‘where is it’?”

“Where is what?”

“The door!” She cried, throwing her hands out in exasperation.

Hoggle hobbled on, “what door?”

“It’s hopeless asking you anything,” Y/N said, finally giving into her frustration as she began pacing. 

Equally as frustrated, Hoggle looked back, “not if you ask the right questions.”

“How do I get into the Labyrinth?” She tried.

Hoggle stopped short, turning around he nodded, “ah, now _that’s_ more like it.” Walking toward her, he points between them and the Labyrinth wall, “you get in there.” While nothing had been there before, a large wooden door covered in flowers was exactly where he was pointing. It opened at their attention, “you, uh, really going in there, are you?” 

“Yes,” Y/N replied with little hesitation, “I’m afraid I have to.”

Entering the Labyrinth, she noticed tree roots growing out of the brown brick. Everything looked damp to the touch, or maybe that was just the excess of naturally occurring glitter. After a short entry way, she entered the middle of a path, stretching far passed what the eye could see going either way. One way was clear and bright, while the other held fallen branches and a peculiar gloom.

“Cozy, isn’t it?” Hoggle asked loudly, causing Y/N to jump in surprise. He found that amusing, “ _ha, ha, ha, ha_!” He walked in front of her, laughing and jangling, “now, would you go left or right?”

She looked back and forth, commenting that, “they both look the same.”

Hoggle shook his head (jangling louder as he did), “well, you’re not going to get very far.”

“Which way would you go?” She asked.

“Me?” He pointed to himself, “I wouldn’t go either way.”

Scoffing, Y/N looked down at the little man, “if that’s all the help you’re going to be, you can just leave.”

“You know your problem?” Hoggle asked, knowing he wasn’t going to receive a reply he kept going, moving around her so he could leave the Labyrinth, “you take too much for granted; take this labyrinth! Even if you reach the center, you’ll never get out again.”

“That’s your opinion.” Y/N stated, proudly beginning her journey down the gloomy and crowded path.

Hoggle huffed, “well, it’s a lot better than yours!”

She turned suddenly, watching the little man retreat. He had helped her, yes, but not without a massive struggle. So, it was only fair when she said, “thanks for nothing, Hogwart.” And continued on her way.

“Oh!” She heard him shout, “it’s Hoggle! And don’t say I didn’t warn you.” When Hoggle was by himself at the door to the Labyrinth, he grumbled and threw his arms back, causing the door to slam shut — truly leaving Y/N on her own.

Well, there was nothing left to do; it was time to start walking! The path was long, it seemed never ending as she stepped over pieces of fallen branches and eroded brick. Every panel of the wall looked the same, as if it were repeated over and over again, “what do they mean, ‘labyrinth’? There aren’t any turns or corners or anything, this just goes on and on!” She sighed, leaning against the cold interior. As she gazed at the never ending line of wall, something hit her, “maybe it doesn’t. Maybe I’m just taking it for granted that it does…” 

Pushing herself off the wall, she broke out into a sprint, running and running until she ran out of breath. It felt like she had finally crossed the line at a marathon, but nothing was there. No cheering fans, and more importantly — no Goblin City. She slowed, anger boiling up inside her. She kicked the side of the Labyrinth, yelling out in both frustration and pain (those walls weren’t going to be easily knocked over). Figuring it was useless, she leaned against the wall again, sliding down to the dirt beneath her in defeat.

“‘Ello,” a small voice called from beside Y/N’s head, she didn’t really notice it at first, but looked over her shoulder as she began to register that someone had spoken to her. A fuzzy blue worm wearing a red scarf was sitting on a pushed out brick next to her resting place, and he was actually kind of cute.

“Did you say ‘hello’?”

“No, I said ‘‘ello’!” The little worm responded at a rapid pace, slowing down to add, “but that’s close enough.”

Turning her body toward him, she asked, “you’re a worm, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, that’s right!”

“You don’t, by any chance, know the way through this labyrinth, do you?”

“Who me?” The little fuzzy blinked, “no, I’m just a worm.”

Y/N blinked back at the small creature, “oh…” 

“Come inside and meet the missus!” The worm offered kindly, its small head waving enthusiastically. 

“No, thank you,” Y/N turned down regretfully, she really would have liked to meet this blue worm’s wife, but she had a labyrinth to complete. “I have to solve this labyrinth, but there aren’t any turns or openings or anything.” She started to explain, “it just goes on and on!”

“Well, you ain’t lookin’ right! It’s full of openings, it’s just you ain’t seein’ them.”

Her brow furrowed in confusion, “well, where are they?”

“There’s one just across there,” he encouraged her to take a look, his scarf billowing as he wiggled, “it’s right in front of you.”

Y/N looked, but there was nothing to see other than a flat wall boxing her in, “no, there isn’t.”

“Come inside and have a nice cup of tea!” The worm offered again, doing his best to be a good host.

It was truly heartbreaking because she really did appreciate his effort, but Y/N had to ignore his request for afternoon tea, “there isn’t an opening.”

He chuckled and she was glad he hadn’t been offended by her second refusal, “of course there is! You try walkin’ through it, you’ll see what I mean.”

“What?” Standing up, Y/N stepped into the middle of the path, examining the area this little blue creature was trying to tell her was an opening. You know, as kind as this worm was, he was asking her to walk into a solid brick wall. 

“Go on! Go on, then.”

“That’s just… _wall_ , there’s no way through.”

He chortled once more, “things are not always what they seem in this place. So, you can’t take anything for granted.”

Putting her hands up to the wall, she slowly began walking toward it — not quite ready to make a fool of herself. Then again, the worm had been so kind to her. He probably wouldn’t laugh if she crashed into the brick. But then again, it seemed as though he wouldn’t get the chance; he had been right! Y/N passed through an opening in the interior wall, putting her on another path. She laughed, sounding relieved to her own ears as she continued taking the path to the left.

“Hey, hang on!”

Turning back to the little blue creature, she popped her head out past the wall and grinned, “thank you, that was incredibly helpful!”

“Don’t go that way!” He warned — and after catching her attention, he added, “never go _that_ way.”

“Oh,” she murmured, redirecting herself to go to the right, “thanks!” 

She was now going back the way she came, but on this different path (and by the advice of the worm) she felt pretty confident. 

Shaking his head in relief, the worm said aloud, “if she had kept on going down that way, she’d have gone straight to that castle.”


	3. Down in the Underground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You solve a riddle that leaves you falling down a dark pit into an even darker underground cave, and it’s there you catch up with a familiar face.

Y/N trailed her hand across the damp brick as she progressed. She noticed its subtle change from damp brick to dry clay, like walls you’d see in a textbook depicting an ancient civilization. From her place on the ground she could see tall stone pillars and trimmed hedges in the shape of evergreen trees, but she stopped after seeing a post — confused by its hands pointing in various directions. It wasn’t a very helpful post, there were no labels telling her which way to go! However, it did tell her that people must’ve been nearby. People who could help her! So far, she’d had a fifty-fifty experience; Hoggle had been useless while the worm had helped her immensely (to her knowledge, anyway). The next outcome would set the tone, whether this place really was fair or not.

Off in the distance, where none of the hands had been pointing, a baby’s cry rang out loudly.

“Toby…” Y/N’s heart clenched, “I’m coming, Toby!” 

In the castle, many miles away from his older sister, Toby cried. He was very good at crying, you could say it was his best skill. And yet, the goblins were not impressed. They covered nearly every inch of the throne room; and each of them shouted, mumbled, or created some kind of abhorrent noise. Some (the very worst) even mimicked Toby’s cries.

Jareth sat with one leg hanging over the throne’s armrest, his face covered by his hand and his scepter irritatedly tapping against his foot. When he removed his hand from his face, he watched the clock count down second by second while an unruly goblin blew a dart at an unsuspecting chicken. His fellow troublemakers loved it, laughing heartily as their King sat up.

The Goblin King needed to pass the time, and what better way than with a song? Standing, he walked across his throne room and grabbed the throat of a random goblin, “ _you remind me of the babe_.”

“What babe?” The goblin wheezed.

“ _The babe with the power_!” Jareth replied, throwing the creature back onto the floor where he came from.

As their King’s voice flowed through the room, more and more goblins started to pay attention. A peculiar one with a tin hat stood and asked, “what power?”

“ _The power of voodoo_.” He said with both his arms lunging outward, startling the small crowd around him.

The goblins further back were unaffected though, and asked another question, “who do?” 

“ _You do_!”

“Do what?”

“ _Remind me of the babe_!” Finding the goblin he had first grabbed, he flung the poor creature clear into the air. Sending him flying and falling, earning an uproar of laughter, “quiet!” The laughter died as he spoke, “a goblin babe.” Now Jareth was the only one laughing, and we couldn’t have that, “well?”

Once again, the throne room hopped with laughter and applause. Even Toby had stopped crying, enjoying the King’s musical outburst.

“ _I saw my baby crying hard as babe could cry, what could I do? My baby’s love had gone and left my baby blue, nobody knew what kind of magic spell to use_.”

“Slime and snails!” A goblin suggested.

Another chimed in, “or puppy dog’s tails!” 

“Thunder or lightning…” 

“ _And baby said_ ,” Toby gurgled for the Goblin King, finding the man’s dancing hypnotic, “ _dance, magic, dance_!” 

Y/N, miles away and still wandering, stopped in her tracks and looked around. She felt as though she had been going in circles, which was arguably worse than going on and on with no corners to turn. Growing angry with herself, Y/N shoved her hands in her pockets, hitting something forgotten. Her lipstick! Observing the makeup in the daylight, she grinned, finding herself once again saved. Pulling the cap off, she bent to the tiled ground, marking an arrow for her future self — in case she hit a dead end. Leaving it unattended, she walked up three stairs and took a right, no longer anxious.

“Hey!” A very small goblin yelled, popping up from under the tile Y/N had marked, “what goes on? Pasta vazoo!” He exited the hole he came from and gasped, “is a-writing on the fraggin’ walk-walk!” Flipping the tile over with little effort, he huffed and jumped angrily, “your mother is a fraggin’ aardvark!”

Passing half walls and up small clusters of stairs, she continued. Marking and leaving behind tiles that were quickly flipped over by angry tile dwellers. 

Back at the castle, Jareth held Toby on his lap. Surprisingly, the baby was content watching the goblins from the comfort of the throne. Pointing to the clock on the cobblestone wall, the Goblin King chuckled, “in nine hours and twenty three minutes, you’ll be mine.”

Knowing better now, the goblins mimicked Jareth’s laughter, though it’s uncertain how many of them were actually thrilled by the new addition.

“ _I saw my baby trying hard as babe could try, what could I do? My baby’s fun had gone and left my baby blue_!”

While Toby was no longer blue, Y/N sure was. After climbing another bit of staircase, she marked a lipstick arrow before fully examining her next move. 

“You got it?” A tile dweller asked, popping his head out from beneath the path after she had walked away.

“I got it.” His partner replied, helping him to turn the arrow in a different direction.

Seeing the path as a dead end, Y/N sighed, “oh no.” Turning back around, she expected to see the arrow pointing at her, but it was facing away, “someone has been changing my marks!” Why would anyone do such a thing? The lipstick would have washed off the next time it rained, it wasn’t spray paint or a permanent marker! “What a horrible place this is, it’s not fair!”

Why couldn’t it have been more like her story? Where she was the one whisked away with the promise of being Goblin Queen. That wasn’t what she wished for though, was it? 

It wasn’t fair.

“That’s right,” a voice with a Scottish sounding lilt exclaimed, “it’s not fair!”

Behind her (where the dead end once was) were four guards, two red and two blue — two hanging upside down and two positioned right-side up. They laughed, as if what he said had been a joke, “but that’s only half of it.” They block two identical doors, her only exits.

“This was a dead end a minute ago.” She explained aloud, mostly to herself.

“No, that’s the dead end behind you.” The blue one hanging upside down said, laughing when there was, in fact, no way for her to go. There was now a wall covering the pathway that had once been marked.

“It keeps changing!” How was she supposed to solve the Labyrinth if it kept changing? “What am I supposed to do?”

The red guard, also hanging upside down, perked upon hearing her question, “the only way out of here is to try one of these doors.”

“One of them leads to the castle at the center of the Labyrinth, and the other one leads to—” the blue one (upside down) was speaking before his partner (right-side up) added in the middle ‘ _ba ba ba bum_!’, “certain death!”

“Which one is which?” Y/N asked, preferring not to die in a fantasy world so far away from what was familiar.

The bottom red one shook his head, “eh, we can’t tell you.”

“Why not?”

“Um…I, uh…” The two upside down one’s looked at each other, “we don’t know!”

“But _they_ do!”

The right-side up guards raised their heads above their shields, looking quite nervous.

Y/N nodded, “then I’ll ask them.” 

“Uh,” the red one stuttered, “no, you can’t ask us. You can only ask one of us.”

“It’s in the rules,” the blue one agreed before adding, “and I should warn you; one of us always tells the truth and one of us always lies. That’s a rule too! He always lies.”

“I do not!” Red argued, “I tell the truth!”

Blue chuckled, “oh, what a lie!”

As with every creature in this world, they started nagging and laughing at each other. Everything must have been one big joke to them, “all right, answer yes or no.” Y/N spoke as she walked up to Red — this wasn’t a joke to her, “would he tell me that this door leads to the castle?”

“Uh…” Red hesitated, “yes?”

“Then the other door leads to the castle,” she reasoned, “and this door leads to ( _ba ba ba bum_ ) certain death.”

The guards looked at each other, amazed. 

“How do you know?” Red asked, his eyebrows crinkling. “He could be telling the truth!”

Truth be told, Y/N had been a little confused herself — only seeing the riddle in the play. It had only suddenly hit her, “but then you wouldn’t be. So, if you told me he’d say yes, I know the answer is no.”

Turning it around, Red said, “but I could be telling the truth.”

“Then he would be lying. So, if you told me he said ‘yes’, I know the answer would still be no.”

“Wait a minute…” Red turned to Blue, “is that right?”

Blue shrugged, “I don’t know, I never understood it.”

They both started laughing again, irritating Y/N. “No, it’s right! I figured it out.” She hadn’t even remembered the solution from the story. But thinking back, was there even a solution in the play? Or just more dialogue… “I could never do it before, I think I’m getting smarter.” She opened the door behind Blue, “it’s a piece of cake!”

It only took one step before the ground disappeared from underneath her, and she let out a horrified scream. 

At first, there was nothing. Only her falling down a hole in the ground like Alice on the way to Wonderland. This wasn’t Wonderland — it was the Underground, a nastier place, Y/N thought. Recalling to mind the childhood story though, Alice didn’t seem too pleased with her fantasy world either.

Thankfully, a third of the way down, she slowed. She didn’t quite grasp why she slowed, however, not until she was surrounded by hundreds of hands. 

Y/N whined in disgust, “ugh! Help!”

Slowing to a complete stop, she was suddenly suspended in place. Before her were several sets of hands, coming together to make shadow puppet faces. They held her tight, _too tight_.

“What do you mean, ‘help’?” Asked the first set, the face’s mouth ‘moving’ to signify speech. But where was its voice actually coming from? “We are helping!” 

“We’re helping hands.” A bigger, more elaborate, face added.

She cringed, feeling them grab onto her clothes and body, “you’re hurting.” 

“Would you like us to let go?”

They all laughed, letting Y/N drop a few feet before catching her again. Her head swam as she returned their grip, holding onto a set of hands for dear life.

“Well then,” huffed another face, “come on, which way?”

“Which way?” She repeated, knowing very well there was only one way to go. 

“Up or down?”

Wait, they could do that? Looking up, Y/N could still see daylight, but she had chosen the wrong door, hadn’t she? That’s why she was in this mess, “…oh.”

“Come on, come on! We haven’t got all day.” They urged.

“Well, it’s a big decision for her.” A more sympathetic set chimed in before all their voices started jumbling together.

“Which way do you want to go?”

“Yes, which way?”

Looking down, she made a reasonable sounding decision, “well, since I’m pointed that way, I guess I’ll go down.”

“She chose down!”

The hands started laughing again; like the guards, like the goblins! Did nobody realize how dire her situation was? She was trying to get her baby brother back! They had to help her, “was that wrong?”

The hands started to release her and she released them, beginning a slow descent downward. 

“Too late now!”

Just as before, what started off slow quickly picked up speed. Without time to process, Y/N was dropped into the dark oubliette — landing on her knees with a thud. Above her the hands continued laughing, shutting a trap door lined with metal bars.

Well, that was unpleasant.

Back at the castle, Jareth had her whereabouts tracked within one of his crystals. He gazed into it, goblins surrounding him, “she’s in the oubliette.”

The goblins cheered, knowing of quite a few Labyrinth challengers that hadn’t made it passed the Renaissance era prison. 

“Shut up!” The Goblin King shouted, “she should not have gotten as far as the oubliette, she should have given up by now.”

A particularly cheerful goblin said in reply, “she’ll never give up!”

He lowered the crystal, “won’t she?” His voice was uncharacteristically soft, “the dwarf’s about to lead her back to the beginning. She’ll soon give up when she realizes she has to start all over again…” He chuckled, though it sounded as if he hadn’t believed himself.

His subjects could tell, they stood in silence.

“Well? Laugh.” He commanded in a hushed tone, and they did. He stood there for a few moments, a look of contemplation on his face before he gave in and rekindled his own laughter. It was stale, however, like the dry snap of a cracker. 

Still sitting in the dark, Y/N gasped upon hearing heavy footsteps, “who’s there?” Another person missing their sibling from long ago? A goblin with the taste for human flesh?

“Me,” a match was struck, lighting Hoggle and the rest of the surrounding area.

Y/N perked up when she saw the familiar face, “oh, it’s you!”

Hoggle lit a nearby candle, “oh, yes, well,” he began, “I knew you were gonna get in trouble as soon as I met you, so I’ve come to give you a hand.”

Looking around, she noticed how big the dungeon was, and how even it wasn’t without glitter. Without the candle it was a dark pit, a dungeon with no doors (other than the one hanging above their heads). The walls looked naturally formed, as if this place was once a cave before having a hole dug into it. 

“Oh, you’re lookin’ around now, aren’t you?” Hoggle asked, a sarcastic air encapsulating his words, “I suppose you’ve noticed there ain’t no doors. Only the hole.”

At the beginning of her journey she realized that sometimes it was better to just ignore him. 

“This is an oubliette, the Labyrinth’s full of ‘em.”

“Really?” She finally responded, genuinely curious, “how do you know that?” 

“Oh, don’t sound so smart! You don’t even know what an oubliette is.”

She hadn’t claimed to, Hoggle was sounding more and more like her stepmother by the minute, “do you?”

“Yes! It’s a place you put people to forget about ‘em.” Well, he wasn’t wrong. An oubliette had its origins in the French word _oublier_ , meaning ‘to forget’. The basement, which is accessible only from a hatch or hole (an _angstloch_ ) in a high ceiling, was a place for people to be left and forgotten. “Now, what you’ve gotta do is get out of here. And it so happens I know a shortcut out of the whole Labyrinth from here.”

“No!” Y/N snapped quickly. Not only was Hoggle of no use before, but, “I’m not giving up now, I’ve come too far.” She paused, sitting down on a stoop. Had she really gone far? Had she… “No,” she couldn’t doubt herself, “I’m doing okay.”

Hoggle shuffled forward, “of course you are!” Placing a hand on her arm, he tried to seem more invested than he actually was. Strangely enough, that involved putting on a fake English accent, “but it gets a lot worse from here on in.”

Frowning, she moved her arm away. He hadn’t been helpful before, why was he trying to be now? “Why are you so concerned about me?”

Hoggle moved back anxiously, and in his normal voice said, “wha—? Wh—? Well, I am, that’s all.” Before smoothly transitioning back into the accented voice, “nice young girl, terrible black oubliette.” He was mimicking Jareth.

Opting to ignore (again), Y/N changed the subject, “you like jewelry, don’t you?”

“Why?”

“If you help me solve the Labyrinth, I’ll give you this.” Taking from her wrist a plastic F/C jeweled bracelet, she held it up for both of them to see. Hoggle looked at the bracelet, captivated; like she had been when the Goblin King offered her a crystal. “You like it, don’t you?”

“Uh!” He gasped, pulling himself out of the trance, “so-so.”

“Oh,” she already knew he wanted it, why not tease him a little? Y/N stood up, unbothered, “okay.”

Hoggle gasped again as he watched her walk past him, “tell you what, you give me the bracelet and I’ll show you the way out of the Labyrinth.” 

_Got him_ , “you were going to do that anyway!”

“Yes, well, that is what would make it a particularly nice gesture on your part.”

“No,” she said quickly, “I’ll tell _you_ what, if you won’t take me to the center — take me as far as you can. Then, I’ll do it on my own.” She held out the bracelet again, thinking it not very important to her anymore. Not as important as the life of her sibling.

“What is that anyway?” He asked, thoughtfully gazing at the jewelry.

Y/N looked at it, shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head, “plastic.” 

“Ooh, well… I don’t promise nothing, but I’ll take you as far as I can. Then, you’re on your own, right?”

“Right!” She nodded, dropping the bracelet into his hand.

“Right.” He repeated, laughing quietly when he looked at the jewelry for himself, “ooh, _plastic_!” While still holding onto the cheap accessory, he walked over to a corner where a rug was lying on the ground. Moving the rug aside, he revealed a door (or, more accurately, a door shaped piece of wood). “Here we go!” Lifting the wood, he pushed it against the oubliette’s wall, creating a door right in front of her eyes.

A door with junk behind it… 

Hoggle cursed, “broom closet.” He shut the door again, locking it before he turned to her, “can’t be right all the time!” He now opened the door from the other side, and natural light began flooding into the candle lit space. “Ah, this is it. Come on then,” he added, motioning her forward as he walked through the magic door.

She followed behind, a spring in her step. They were finally doing this, she was going to get her baby brother back!

Entering a place that wasn’t unlike the other room they’d been trapped in, Hoggle began leading, “this way.”

The idea that this place might have once been a carved out cave seemed even more likely. Thick rock formations created natural support beams, and some of them even had faces.

“Don’t go on!”

Oh, and they spoke too.

Y/N jumped, looking back at the face in shock, though she didn’t say anything. Hoggle appeared to be unphased, so she continued following him.

“Go back while you still can!” Another said.

“This is not the way!”

“Take heed and go no further!”

“Beware…” Should she ask? “Beware.”

“Soon it will be too late!”

She should probably ask.

“Yagh! Don’t pay any attention to them. They’re just false alarms.” Clever, she thought. “You get a lot of them in the Labyrinth, especially when you’re on the right track.”

“Oh no you’re not!” An alarm interjected as they passed.

“Oh, shut up.” Hoggle muttered, brushing its comment off with ease.

“Sorry,” the same alarm apologized, “just doing my job.”

Hoggle huffed, louder this time, “well, you don’t have to do it to us!”

“Beware! For the—” 

“Just forget it!” He growled, cutting off the alarm at the corner. 

Y/N watched on with amusement, maybe having everything in the Labyrinth talk wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

“Aw, please!” The corner alarm suddenly cried, “I haven’t said it for such a long time.”

Hoggle looked inconsolable, “oh! Alright, but don’t expect a big reaction.”

Though the alarm’s face was permanently etched in stone, Y/N could see the joy shining through when Hoggle gave him permission.

“No, no, no! Of course not…” Clearing his throat, the alarm went on, “for the path you will take will lead to certain destruction!” Another small pause, “thank you very much.”

She would have laughed and told the alarm he did a beautiful job, if not for the ominous crystal ball rolling past their feet and back into the darkness.


	4. Find Someone True

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chance encounter with the King leaves you questioning your friendship with Hoggle. Is a friendship with him worth nurturing?

Y/N and Hoggle followed behind the rolling crystal, catching up to it as it hopped into the tin cup of a mysterious stranger. 

“Ah, what have we here?” The stranger’s voice was high in pitch, but not exactly feminine. Neither of them recognized who this person (or goblin) was. Layers of clothing covered their body, hiding any distinguishable features. They could, however, see that this creature had a large flesh colored beak; a goblin, then. 

Hoggle startled at the voice much more than his companion, so much so that he ended up backing into her, “uh, nothing.” 

“Nothing?” The stranger asked calmly at first, before its temper rose, “nothing?!” Oh dear, that wasn’t a stranger at all. Raising a hand, Jareth pulled off a particularly convincing goblin mask and threw it to the ground. Standing, he shook off the excess clothing, a rogue cape still clinging to his shoulders, “nothing, tra-la-la!”

“Your majesty,” Hoggle gaped, “what a nice surprise!”

“Hello, Hedgewart.” Jareth grinned.

“Hogwart!” Y/N interjected, barely able to keep a grin of her own face. Of course she knew Hoggle’s name, but there was something so fun about the interaction they were having. It was hard for her to explain, but she felt a certain giddiness around the Goblin King — maybe it was because he wasn’t currently threatening her brother’s life, that might have been it. When he wasn’t threatening lives, he was fun.

Strange… 

“Hoggle!” He finally corrected under his breath, not finding the same joy the other two had.

Jareth continued, using the correct name this time, “Hoggle, can it be that you’re helping this girl?”

“Help—? Helping?” He stuttered, “in what sense?”

Finally whipping the cape off, the Goblin King explained, “in the sense that you’re leading her toward the castle.”

Hoggle was shaking — in every sense of the word, both his head and his hands. “No, no! I was taking her back to the beginning, your majesty.”

Glancing at Y/N as she looked at the dwarf in disbelief, the Goblin King smirked.

“What?!” She nearly shouted, though it was obvious her ‘friend’ was trying to ignore her.

He was silent for a moment, a pained expression on his face before he forced himself to once again look neutral, “I told her I was gonna help her solve the Labyrinth.” 

The King watched him like a hawk as he explained, noticing a F/C beam of light reflecting off his wrist. 

“A little trickery on my part, but actually—”

Jareth was at Hoggle’s level now, squinting in utter confusion when he interrupted him, “what is that plastic thing around your wrist?”

“Oh!” He looked at his wrist before hiding it behind his back, only to remember that it had clearly been seen, “oh, this?” He stammered and laughed nervously, “oh, my goodness! Where did this come from?”

“Higgle…” Jareth sighed like a disappointed father.

“Hoggle.”

“Yes,” he acknowledged while standing back to his full height, “if I thought for one second that you were betraying me, I’d be forced to suspend you headfirst in the Bog of Eternal Stench.”

“No!” Gasping in fright, Hoggle dropped to his knees before Jareth. “Your majesty, not the Eternal Stench!”

“Oh yes, Hoggle.” He said firmly, shoving him out of the way so he could turn to our protagonist. He moved toward her and leaned against the wall with his hand, cornering her like he had earlier that evening, “and you, Y/N, how are you enjoying my labyrinth?”

She looked at him for a moment, glancing down when his gaze grew too intense. “It’s a piece of cake.” Just as everything else in the Labyrinth had been.

Hoggle grimaced, _why would she say such a thing_?

“Really?” Jareth asked, sounding fascinated, “then how about upping the stakes, hm?” Behind him appeared a golden clock. Stretching his hand, he twirled his fingers and the arms of the timepiece followed.

Y/N’s eyes widened, “that’s not fair!”

“You say that so often.” He complained, lowering his hand, “I wonder what your basis for comparison is.” Walking past her, he began going down a darkened corridor, “so, the Labyrinth is a piece of cake, is it? Well, let’s see how you deal with this little slice.”

Forming a crystal out of thin air, Jareth threw it down the corridor he had been standing in. When he backed away, Y/N could see a machine that took up the whole tunnel space. Its front was covered in sharp blades, and the blades began twisting as it jerked forward — surging to life.

Hoggle screamed in horror, “oh no!” He began running in the opposite direction, running as fast as his little legs would carry him. “The Cleaners!”

Y/N began walking backward quickly before turning and sprinting, “what?!”

“Run!” He caught her hand and they started running down the dark tunnel together.

The tunnel narrowed as they continued, they were being chased down a long dome of the same wet brick she had seen at the start. Side by side, Hoggle tripped and fell, causing the girl to cry out for him. There was no time to waste; helping him up as quickly as she could, Y/N pulled him along, “you okay?” He didn’t answer — not having time to reply as he panted in fear. The Cleaners were starting to catch up with them. “Come on, faster!”

They continued to run as fast as they could. An iron gate at the end of the corridor, however, blocked their path. She shouted his name, alerting him to the crisis as they slowed to a stop.

The little man gripped the bars and yelled over the machines rumbling, “the Cleaners! The Bog of Eternal Stench! You sure got his attention.” 

As the Cleaners drew closer and closer, Y/N began pushing on the wall just right of the gate. This wall was different (not made out of brick — and its outline matched that of the gate’s). After noticing, Hoggle began pushing too, and it started to budge. 

At the last minute, the wall pushed inward, collapsing instead of opening. They both fell forward as the Cleaners rolled right past them. Scrambling up, Y/N watched their prosecutor disappear. On the other side were two harmless looking goblins, petaling the machine like a bicycle.

“Ah!” Hoggle exclaimed, drawing Y/N’s attention back to him, “this is what we need, a ladder! Follow me.”

She hesitated, “how can I trust you now that I know you were taking me back to the beginning of the Labyrinth?”

He looked at her, startling for a moment before regaining his composure and climbing up the ladder, “I wasn’t.” He claimed, “I told him I was taking you back to the beginning just to throw him off the scent.”

Y/N frowned, “Hoggle, how can I believe anything you say?” 

When she had seen him again, at the beginning of the oubliette, she had decided then and there to give him another chance. First impressions aren’t everything, after all. However, it was all becoming clear — she didn’t know Hoggle, not really. How was she supposed to know if he was loyal to Jareth or not?

“Well,” he grunted, continuing his climb, “let me put it this way; what choice have you got?”

Looking back the way they came once more, Y/N’s frown deepened. “You’re right.” Other than a partially destroyed corridor, she had nowhere else to go. Grabbing the rung closest to her height, she began pulling herself up.

Several feet ahead of her, Hoggle began monologuing again, “see, you’ve gotta understand my position. I’m a coward, and Jareth scares me.”

“What kind of position is that?”

“No position!” He snapped, “that’s my point. And you wouldn’t be so brave if you’d ever smelled the Bog of Eternal Stench. It’s, it’s—” stepping on an unstable rung, Hoggle cried, the piece of wood falling to the brick floor below.

Gripping the ladder tightly, she skipped a step, now right behind him. “Is that all it does, is smell?”

“Oh, believe me, that’s enough.” He shivered, recalling the unpleasant memories. “But the worst thing is, if you so much as put a foot in the Bog of Stench, you’ll smell bad the rest of your life. It’ll never wash off.” Finally reaching the top, Hoggle popped the lid off a large pot. “Ah, here we are then,” he got out of the pot, landing in a lush topiary garden, “you’re on your own from now on.”

“What?!” She cried, her head finally popping out as well.

“That’s it, I quit!”

This was the same area she had been in before, “wait a minute, Hoggle!” The same greenery and dry clay walls surrounded them, this could’ve been a place where she had marked tile with her lipstick. Well, maybe somewhere close by. She hadn’t remembered seeing topiaries, but the clay wall was familiar enough!

“I said I didn’t promise nothin’! I said I would take you as far as I could go.”

“You little cheat!” He was playing in the middle again; he could go further, but had taken her to where she left off — with even less time now! “You nasty little cheat!”

He pointed at her before waving her off completely, “now, don’t try to embarass me. I’ve got no pride.” Turning from her, Hoggle began walking away. 

Petty and always ready to pick a fight, she raced after him, “oh, yeah?” Grabbing the pouch of jewels he kept by his side, she yanked them up and away.

“Hey!” He exclaimed, “but them’s my jewels! No, you give them back! Give ‘em back, give those back!”

She waved the jewels in the air, playfully backing away every time he got close. After a few circles around each other, she stopped, “now, there’s the castle. Which way should we try?”

“Them’s my rightful property,” Hoggle stated, “it’s not fair!”

Y/N’s eyes darted to him immediately, “no, it isn’t.” She knew it wasn’t, nothing in this world was fair, “but that’s the way it is.”

Before they went around in circles again, the grunting of an old birdlike creature drew her attention away. No, not a birdlike creature — a humanoid with a birdlike creature for a hat! He sat on a stone chair, carved to look like several books stacked against each other. Curious, the two stop bickering in favor of approaching them. 

“Excuse me, please, but can you help me?”

As he registered Y/N, his eyes widened, “oh, a young girl!”

“Woo, woo, woo!” His hat whooped. 

“Uh, and who is this?” Looking behind her, this new acquaintance noticed Hoggle. Hoggle, though always harsh looking, was giving him a particularly nasty stink eye. He wasn’t over their argument yet.

Without hesitation, Y/N replied, “my friend.” She stepped closer to Hoggle and put her hand on his shoulder. He wasn’t going to get out of his promise so easily.

“Oh, well, yes. Uh, what can I do for you?” 

“Please, can you tell—” cutting herself off, she thought about her words a little more carefully. “That is…I have to get to the castle at the center of the Labyrinth, do you know the way?”

“Uh…” 

“…eh.” 

He and his hat went on to make those noises again before something connected, “oh yes, you want to get to the castle, hm?”

“How’s that for brain power, huh?” 

“Be quiet!” He scolded his hat.

His hat grimaced, “ah, nuts!”

“So, young woman,” the wise man began his riddle, “the way forward is sometimes the way back.”

“Ah!” His hat sighed, “would you listen to this crap.”

The pair started bickering again, leaving Hoggle and Y/N waiting for a more in depth explanation. When they were finally finished, the man was gracious enough to go on, “quite often, young lady, it seems we’re not getting anywhere when, in fact—”

“We are.”

He looked up at his hat and repeated, “ _we are _.”__

__Looking around at the lush greenery, Y/N shook her head, “I’m certainly not getting anywhere at the moment.”_ _

__“Ha! Join the club!” The hat interjected. Beneath him, the man snored — having fallen asleep after giving his advice. “I, uh, think that’s your lot. Please, leave a contribution in the little box.” In the man’s right hand was a wooden box with a hole cut in the top, it rattled as it was shaken by him. Or…maybe the hat used the man’s arm to shake it?_ _

__Since money was no object to her in this fantasy world, she opened the little drawstring that kept Hoggle’s pouch closed._ _

__“Don’t you dare!” He shouted, “them’s mine!”_ _

__Oh, that’s right. It wouldn’t have been very nice of her, giving away his things. It reminded her of earlier that evening, when she discovered Lancelot missing. She couldn’t do that, not even to him. “Well, I guess I could spare this.” The shimmering pink lipstick she had used to mark arrows had a pretty gold casing. If Hoggle hadn’t recognized plastic, she was sure the packaging of this makeup would fool them all (the lipstick itself had dirt on it anyway)._ _

__“¡Gracias, señorita!” The hat exclaimed as she turned to leave._ _

__Hoggle followed, hot on her heels. “You didn’t have to give him that! He didn’t tell you nothing.”_ _

__Passing under an archway made of bush, the two picked up the journey where they left off. However, back in the garden, the hat chuckled. “Well then, there go a couple of suckers.” He was met with a loud snore, “ugh, it’s so stimulating being your hat.”_ _

__Perhaps they were getting somewhere! The walls creating the maze of the Labyrinth were now made of shrubbery. Something Y/N had never seen before, the place they came out of must’ve been a transitional area._ _

__“Why did you say that?” Hoggle asked, trailing behind her. “About me being your friend.”_ _

__“Because you are.” She answered, looking up at a tall stone pillar that crossed their path. “You may not be much of a friend, but you’re the only friend I have in this place.” The sound of hooves pattering distracted her. Was someone riding a horse on the other side of the shrubbery? “Do you hear something?”_ _

__He hadn’t heard her (or the sound), “ _friend_ …”_ _

__“Nah, it’s alright.” She dismissed, whatever it was didn’t sound threatening._ _

__“…I like that. I ain’t never been no one’s friend before.”_ _

__Maneuvering their way through a few more twists and turns, Y/N stopped to think about her path. Only she didn’t get very far with that thought, not before there was a monstrous roar!_ _

__“Ah!” Hoggle screamed, “goodbye!” He ran off, leaving her to be eaten (or, at least, roared at)._ _

__“Wait a minute!” She cried, running after him. He wasn’t very fast, so she was able to grab onto him — but not pin him in place._ _

__He ran in circles as she held him, “keep the stuff!”_ _

__“Are you my friend or not?”_ _

__“No! No, I’m not!” He spat out quickly, “Hoggle ain’t no one’s friend. He looks after himself, like everyone!” Finally ripping himself away, he ran — shouting as he went, “Hoggle is Hoggle’s friend.”_ _

__Y/N was hurt. Standing her ground, she shouted at his retreating figure, “Hoggle, you coward!”_ _


	5. Open and Closed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another set of doors stand in your way, but this time you have someone willing to stick around. Meanwhile, Hoggle struggles between being a coward and a true friend.

A loud roar ripped through the air again, absorbed by the stone pillars far off in the distance. It had been rather frightening at first, but now, “I’m not afraid. Things aren’t always what they seem in this place.” 

Crossing under another lush archway, Y/N followed the sound of the ferocious roar. Turning the corner, she entered a new part of the Labyrinth. Grey cobblestone replaced the shrubbery, and instead of having tall pillars — there were actual trees. And there was one tree, in particular, with a large goblin hanging from it. There were smaller goblins too! Hitting the giant with sticks, sticks with even tinier goblins on top, biting the poor creature as it hung suspended.

“I need to find something to throw.” She said to herself, frowning deeply when the large goblin roared again.

Like the crystal that rolled by her in the tunnel, a rock the size of a baseball hit the back of her shoe. Picking it up, she swung her arm back and let the rock fly out of her palm. Having exceptionally good aim in the moment, the rock hit a small goblin’s helmet, causing it to spin around and conceal its eyes.

Unable to see, the goblin cried, “gah!” Waving his stick through the air, the tiny goblin that bit found something to sink its teeth into; _a member of its own team_. 

Seeing another rock roll toward her, Y/N wasted no time doing the same thing over again. She stood back for a second, watching the chaotic chain reaction she caused — delighted when the smaller goblins finally scurried off, leaving her and the big guy behind. 

Seeing her jog to the tree, the large goblin began roaring again. It was easier to tell he was scared now, not angry. “Now, don’t be like that.” Y/N tried to calm him, “don’t you want me to help you down?” Tilting her head to the side, she realized this creature wasn’t scary at all. He had a soft looking face, it was rounded and fuzzy due to all his red colored hair. He wasn’t a threat at all, but a giant teddy bear!

“Ludo, down!” The beast cried.

“Ludo?” She questioned, “is that your name?”

“Ludo.” He replied sadly.

Resting her hand under his chin, she smiled softly, “you seem like such a nice beast. Well, I certainly hope you are what you seem to be.” Again, things weren’t always what they seemed in this place.

Ludo groaned, struggling as he tried to shake himself from the tree.

Standing on top of the trees overgrown roots, she looked for a way to get him down. “Just hang on, I’ll get you down.” Tied under one of the particularly thick roots, she spotted the end of the rope that was keeping him up, “just a second!” Untying the knots left by the small goblins, she released Ludo from his trap, not realizing that he was going to fall immediately. Ludo did, in fact, fall immediately, landing hard on the cobblestone beneath him. The tree’s leaves rustled loudly as the branch snapped back into place, raining a fair amount of green on Y/N as she got up as quickly as she could, “oh, I’m sorry! Ludo, are you hurt?” Helping the creature to sit up, she quickly apologized again.

“Friend?” He asked curiously, watching her as she looked for any obvious injuries. The gentle giant noticed that she treated him differently from the way the other goblins did, and that could only mean one thing! She was a friend. 

Smiling, she nodded, “that’s right, Ludo. I’m Y/N!” 

Ludo was unlike any other goblin Y/N had met. He didn’t speak as much as Hoggle did (maybe that was a good thing), but still seemed completely capable of having a good friendship with. 

“Y/N!” He repeated before trying to push himself off the ground. 

He didn’t make it very far, so Y/N assisted, “here, let me help you. You okay?”

With her help, Ludo was finally able to stand at his full height. He was very tall, even with his slight hunch. “Y/N? Y/N, friend!” He said, making his way closer to her.

Grabbing onto his hand, she laughed, “now, wait, just a second. I want to ask you something, Ludo.” 

“Hm?” He tilted his head, “what?”

“I have to get to the castle at the center of the Labyrinth,” she explained for what felt like the hundredth time, “do you know the way?”

The red furred beast thought for a moment, looking to the left and right before shaking his head, “no.”

“You don’t know either, huh?”

“No.” He shook his head again.

Looking back the way she came, Y/N frowned, “I wonder if anyone knows how to get through this labyrinth.” 

On his own, some miles away and still surrounded by tall hedges, Hoggle huffed and walked by himself. “Get through the Labyrinth? Get through the Labyrinth?! One thing is for sure, she’ll never get through the Labyrinth.”

The cobblestone which surrounded Y/N and Ludo looked clean. There was no dust, no obvious glitter. It was very quickly decided, she liked this section of the Labyrinth. Admiring the welcomed change, she quickly noticed two doors that hadn’t been there the last time she looked. Oh no, not two doors again. Her stomach flipped anxiously as she got Ludo’s attention, “where did they come from?” Stepping closer, she noticed that they had door knockers (not just decorative faces like she thought), “what do you think, Ludo?” She asked, “which should we choose out of these two ugly characters?”

Her E/C eyes glanced back and forth while she frowned, unable to decide. Anything could be behind those doors, the castle or another dark oubliette! Ludo didn’t know which to pick either, he thought they both looked pretty malicious.

“It’s very rude to stare!” The left door knocker, the one with a ring through its ears, yelled.

Y/N jumped at the sudden loud voice, “oh, I’m sorry! I was just wondering which door to choose.”

“What?” Oh, right! He had a ring through his ears.

The door knocker to the right mumbled something incoherent, he had a large ring in his mouth. This had the potential of being even more stressful than the red and blue door guards. 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full!” 

“Wait a second,” she said, pausing the conversation, “I can’t understand you.” Pulling the ring out of the right door knocker’s mouth, Y/N allowed the sentient being to speak for itself. 

“What were you saying?” Left; as in, the door knocker to the left, continued talking (though he wouldn’t be able to hear what his partner was trying to say). 

Right moved his sculpted jaw around, sighing with relief, “Oh! It is so good to get that thing out.” 

She gave a small smile and handed the ring over to Ludo, “what were you saying?” 

“I said,” Right cleared his throat, “it’s no good talking to him, he’s as deaf as a post.” 

“Mumble, mumble, mumble!” Left scoffed, “you’re a wonderful conversational companion.”

“You can talk, all you do is moan!”

“No good,” Left sniffed, “can’t hear you.”

Right sighed deeply (even deeper than the first time), indicating that this must’ve been a fairly regular occurrence. 

As long as they didn’t start cackling like goblins, Y/N wouldn’t mind if they argued all day. “Where do these doors lead?”

“What?!” 

Right rolled his eyes, “search me. We’re just the knockers.” He said, laughing at his own…joke? If it was a joke, it flew over poor Y/N’s head. 

“Oh,” she mumbled, pushing on the door. It didn’t budge, neither of them did, “how do I get through?”

“Huh?!” Left shouted when Y/N pushed against the door he was attached to. Though not as severe as the first time, she still jumped at the door knocker’s preferred volume.

Right added, “knock, and the door will open.”

She hummed again, turning around to see Ludo with the door knocker’s ring hanging from his mouth. “Ludo!” Amused, she took the ring out of his mouth before holding it back up — attempting to return it to Right.

“Ugh!” He whined, “I don’t want that thing back in my mouth.”

She frowned, “come on, I just want to knock.”

Right closed his mouth, refusing to let the ring back in. He could have just waited until they were through the door and spit it back out, but Y/N was growing tired of compromising with the creatures of the Labyrinth.

“Ha!” Left chuckled, “doesn’t want his ring back in his mouth, eh? Can’t say I blame him.”

Well, don’t make her feel bad! It was then and there that she devised a plan; grabbing Right’s nose, Y/N held it until he could no longer stand going without air. He tried not to give in, of course, but when he couldn’t take it any longer, he opened his mouth to breathe. Sliding the ring back inside, she knocked quickly and the door opened.

“Sorry about that.” She apologized sincerely, taking the ring out of his mouth again before running to Left. 

Right was confused as Ludo stayed to hold the door open, “hey, what?” He asked, looking at the big guy for an explanation. Ludo just shrugged, he had no idea what she was doing.

It took a bit of wiggling and uncomfort, but soon the ring was out of Left’s ears. “There!” She grinned, placing both rings on the ground between them, “now if anyone should need to knock, you can just tell them that the rings are here.”

Without further ado, Ludo and Y/N walked through the right door, letting it swing shut behind them.

The two door knockers looked at each other in amazement, why had no other Labyrinth solvers done that for them? “People really could just use their fists, eh?”

“Yeah.”

The right door, the one they had chosen without any questions asked, led to a dark forest bogged down with moisture. It was like nothing she had ever seen in person, the closest thing was probably that part of the zoo where they kept the frogs. Even so, green paint could not replicate a rainforest like this. “Come on, Ludo.” She motioned forward, it didn’t have to be as scary as it seemed. It was just a rainforest…in a fantasy world where anything was possible. Nothing to be scared of at all. 

Ludo whined, but there was no turning back now, so he stood tall and followed closely behind his new friend.

Back at the castle beyond the Goblin City, the clock continued to count down. There were a little less than five hours left for Y/N to solve the Labyrinth; doable, but the odds really were starting to favor the King. Goblin’s chattered amongst themselves, polishing random things and all around just enjoying the short lived mellow attitude.

Upon the throne, Jareth held Toby on his lap. The baby was gurgling and cooing — making all types of sounds, really. The King patted his back lightly, releasing an air bubble that had been trapped in his tummy.

“You’re welcome.” He chuckled after the infant’s belch. After that, there didn’t seem to be any more problems. Toby was carefree as he wiggled around, taking in whatever his large eyes could find. “Well, he’s a lively little chap. I think I’ll call him ‘Jareth’. He’s got my eyes.” When the baby looked up at him, he smiled and the goblins cackled (as usual).

Lush vegetation crossed over into Y/N and Ludo’s path more than once, and the clearly marked dirt trail started to fade in some places. Birds and frogs chirped in harmony, giving some hope that there might’ve been something beyond the dense fog.

“Ludo, scared…”

Y/N frowned, holding out her arm as a form of security, “aw, give me your hand.” He hesitated, unsure if it would really make him feel better, but after a moment of consideration he grabbed onto her hand. “Imagine a big thing like you being scared.”

“Yeah.” He said slowly as they walked together, already feeling much safer.

Squeezing his hand, she did her best to flash a genuine smile. It wasn’t as if they were alone, they had each other, “see, Ludo?” Letting go of his hand to gesture to the forest, Y/N tried to show him that, “there’s nothing to be afraid of!”

Ludo would have to agree, with them having each other’s backs — there was nothing to be afraid of. Other than a trap door hidden underneath the forest brush. Beneath Ludo, a trap door opened, quickly swallowing him up into the darkness of another oubliette.

Spinning, she turned back to see if she had calmed his nerves or still needed to hold his hand. Only, he wasn’t there. Y/N’s eyes widened, “Ludo?” She walked back to where he had been standing and looked in every direction she could imagine him going in, “Ludo, where are you?!”

Somewhere else, somewhere where the forest broke out into early evening daylight, we find Hoggle. He’s still by himself, in a place that’s just beyond the Labyrinth’s walls. A place where the brick had corroded away, leaving an unattended exit (but that didn’t mean it was unknown). 

Stepping over twigs and leaf piles, he huffed. This was the reason he lived outside the Labyrinth, in a place that most in the Underground would consider safe. He was never going to go back into that place, well, he wouldn’t have if not for… 

“Hoggle, help!” 

Surprised, Hoggle recognized the voice of his friend, Y/N. She was in trouble and needed his help! “Oh, I’m comin’, Y/N!” Turning around, Hoggle was caught off guard by the appearance of the Goblin King. Tripping over himself, he stood to face the King.

“Well,” Jareth said, “if it isn’t you. And, uh, where are you going?”

If creatures from the Underground could sweat, Hoggle would be soaking through his shirt, “um, well, the little lady gave me the slip, but I just hears her now. So, uh, I was about to lead her back to the beginning, like you told me.”

“I see.” Jareth said calmly, pushing himself off the rock he had been leaning against. “For one moment I thought you were running to help her. But, uh, no, not after my warnings.” He walked to the other side of Hoggle, perching himself on a different rock. Behind him, crows gathered on a dead tree’s branches, freaking the poor dwarf out even more. “That would be stupid.”

He swallowed, “oh, you bet it would! Me, help her? After your warnings?” He laughed harshly, it sounded hollow — even to his own ears. He turned back the way he had originally been walking, ready to scatter away without another word. However, he was met face to face with the man he was trying to get away from. 

Jareth was crouched at his level, a hand resting underneath his sharp jaw, “oh dear, poor Hoghead.”

“Hoggle.”

Jareth grabbed his shoulder, pulling him closer, “I’ve just noticed your lovely jewels are missing.”

“Uh—” Hoggle looked down at where his pouch of jewels used to be, “oh yes, so they are.” Stepping away after Jareth let go, he patted himself down, “my lovely jewels…missing. Let me think, uh, uh…I better find them! But first, I’m off to take the little lady back to the beginning of the Labyrinth, just like we planned!”

“Wait!”

Hoggle stopped, digging his heels into the hard ground.

“I’ve got a much better plan, Hoggle.” From his hand appeared another crystal, just as mesmerizing as the ones before, “give her this.” 

He tossed it to him, and when Hoggle caught it — it turned into a peach fruit. “Wha—? What is it?” He asked, knowing very well that looks could be deceiving.

Jareth shrugged, “it’s a present.”

“It ain’t gonna hurt the little lady, is it?”

He frowned mockingly, his voice softening as he tried to act confused, “oh, now, why the concern?” 

Hoggle shook his head and looked down at the fruit, “I won’t do nothing to harm her.”

“Oh, come, come, come, Hogbrain!” He scoffed, voice much louder now, “I’m surprised at you, losing your head over a girl.” As if he hadn’t had the same thing exactly happening to him at that very moment.

“I ain’t lost my head!” Hoggle shot back.

The Goblin King approached him again, poking him with his scepter, “you don’t think a young girl could ever like a repulsive little scab like you, do you?”

“Well,” he murmured, a little deflated, “she said we was—”

“What?” Laughed Jareth, “bosom companions? Friends?”

Sighing, Hoggle looked down in dejection, “don’t matter.” He ruined it by being a coward, running away when she needed him most.

“You’ll give her that, Hoggle,” he approached again, grabbing onto the dwarf’s ear, “or I’ll tip you straight into the Bog of Eternal Stench before you can blink.” 

Jareth let go as he ended his sentence, leaving the other to cower and walk in the other direction, “yes, right.”

“And, Hoggle,” he said, quickly turning around. Hoggle turned too, waiting to hear further bad news. “If she ever kisses you, I’ll turn you into a prince.”

“You will?” He asked in silent shock.

“Prince of the Land of Stench.” Jareth flourished, laughing as he finally walked away. 

Hoggle looked down at the fruit and whimpered, slowly making his way back into the Labyrinth to find Y/N.


	6. The Chilliest Bunch in the Land

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh? You thought Jareth’s throne room goblins were scary? You haven’t met the chilliest bunch in the land.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short because the fireys scared me as a child. The next one will be longer, promise!

“Ludo!” Y/N called, her voice slowly growing hoarse. Clearing her throat, she sniffled sadly, realizing yet another one of her friends had gone. What a truly terrible place this was. Dragging her feet over the dirt, she thought about how much further she could go on. The rainforest was no longer a lush population full of life, now everywhere she looked tree branches were broken and lying on the ground, ready to trip her. Muddy leaf piles squished underneath her, and she realized now that she was nearly at her breaking point. She stopped short of feeling sorry for herself, hearing the sound of sticks clacking together, “what’s going on?”

An orange creature jumped out from behind a tree, laughing until its stomach hurt when Y/N jumped and screamed. Behind her, another laughed, “yahoo!”

“What do you want?” She asked, eyes wide and fearful.

The weird looking thing continued clacking its pair of sticks, “what do I want? We just came out to have a good time!”

Sweeping the ground, one of them started a fire. As in, their fingertips were on fire. Wiggling said finger’s over a pile of dry leaves, they ignited a bonfire, and the flames warmed Y/N’s face instantly. 

She stepped away, her back pressing firmly against a tree as she watched the ugly fire creatures dance and sing. Cringing when they started pulling off their limbs, she squeezed her eyes shut. She tried making herself as small as possible, but a firey had jumped off the tree and onto her back. Shrieking, Y/N found herself flailing around, attracting more of them.

They started pulling at her head, confused when nothing but a few cracks and pops happened. “Hey, hey! Her head don’t come off.” One of them whined.

Pulling their long hands off of her, she shouted, “of course it doesn’t!” 

“She’s right, it’s stuck on!”

“Lady, where you goin’ with a head like that?”

“I know what we can do,” one said, bouncing his head high above his body, “take off her head!”

They all laughed in agreement, bouncing their heads too as they approached her. 

Grabbing onto the head of the firey whom had suggested such a terrible thing, she plucked it clean off and threw it as far away from the bonfire as she could.

“Hey, lady, that’s his head!”

Going around and taking all of their heads off, Y/N made a break for it — kicking up dirt as she sped out of there.

“It’s against the rules to throw other people’s heads!” They yelled, beginning to chase after her. 

“You’re only allowed to throw your own head!” 

“That’s right!”

“Now, we have to take off your head!” 

Her heart pounded as she jumped down a small hill, “leave me alone!” She cried. Her lungs burned and her legs ached as she ran — her body was doing its best to carry her, but it couldn’t go on for much longer. Oh, to be back at the start of the Labyrinth, where she had been running to go somewhere faster! Now, however, she was running to keep herself alive. The Labyrinth was opening up all kinds of new experiences for her, and she hadn’t liked any of them. 

Stumbling, she realized going down that hill hadn’t been her smartest idea. There was a wall, trapping her in with the fireys. They were surrounding her, claiming that she hadn’t ‘played the game’ right, and that they got a free round (which really meant that they got to decapitate her without her having the chance to put up a fight). Panicked, Y/N pressed herself against the wall when she felt a coarse rope hit her shoulder. Looking up, she saw none other than her first friend and savior, _Hoggle_. 

“Hoggle!”

“Grab it!” He shouted, his body trembling so much that it was shaking the rope. And grab it, she did! Climbing up the wall, she kicked the ugly fireys that surrounded her away. 

When she did manage to climb to the top of the wall, they tossed their heads up into the air to continue their taunting. 

Hoggle growled and shooed them away, “scram!”

Collectively realizing that they weren’t going to get her head, they backed off with displeased groans.

“Hoggle,” she breathed a sigh of relief, “you’ve come to help me!” Throwing her arms around him, Y/N pulled him close.

“No!” He yelled, trying to squirm away, “don’t kiss me!”

Naturally, he was being dramatic, so she went ahead and kissed his cheek. Yet, for the third time that day, the floor fell out from beneath them. Plunging them into complete darkness, leaving them to discover a new mysterious place.


	7. Heard About a Place Today

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trapped in the Bog of Eternal Stench — you, Ludo, and Hoggle make a new friend. Quickly followed by you taking a bite into a rotten peach.

Mysterious and _putrid_. Y/N and Hoggle slid down a tunnel inside the walls of a cave. Spiderweb stuck to them, then flew free — blowing away as soon as they reached the slide’s end. Hoggle had been going faster than her; positioned in front and of a shorter stature, he shot out of the tunnel and into the air. His hand outstretched desperately, grabbing onto a thin branch that had been sticking out of the wall.

Kicking her leg out, Y/N was able to catch herself on the extra line of brick at the mouth of the tunnel. Gasping, she steadied herself, “Hoggle, hold on!” After a few missteps, she was able to gain her balance on the thin edge. 

“Oh, ew!” He gagged, smelling the stench coming off the bog. 

Leaning over the edge to reach for him, Y/N scrunched up her S/C features in disgust. The water (if it was water) below simmered, a dark murky green color bubbling and boiling as it wafted its stench upward toward them. Bare trees were sticking out of the water, as well as slippery looking rocks. “Ugh, what is it?!” She asked, grabbing Hoggle by his arm. 

“It’s—” he tried to hold his breath, but failed and ended up retching, “the Bog of Eternal Stench!” 

She still had a tight grip on his arm, so she wasn’t worried about him falling, not when she could worry about something smelling so bad. “I’ve never smelled anything like it! It’s like, like…” Y/N couldn’t find the right words, and the bog seemed pleased with that — sputtering and bubbling directly beneath them.

“Oh, it doesn’t matter what it’s like!” Hoggle whined, gagging again as he turned his face away from the water. “It’s a bog of eternal stench, help!”

“Hold on,” she grunted, using all her weight to lean in the opposite direction and pull him back over the edge. Pressing their backs against the wall, they slowly begin inching across the ledge, on the lookout for land. 

Hoggle groaned suddenly, flailing his arms about like a child, “oh! What did you have to go and do a thing like that for?”

“Do what?” She asked, the bog rumbling below. “You mean rescue you?”

“What? No! You kissed me.” 

The ledge they were walking across began to crumble, and Y/N yelped. Scrambling, the two managed to keep themselves up on the very corner of the ledge. “Oh my gosh,” Hoggle gasped. 

“Don’t pretend to be so hard,” scoffed Y/N, slowly inching her way across the shallow portion of the brick, “I know you came back to help me, and I know that you’re my friend.” 

“Did not. Am not.” He grumbled, “I’ve just come to get me property back.” Speaking of his property, Hoggle’s eyes widened, “oh, and uh, to give you…give you, uhm.” Inside his pocket, near where his jewels used to hang, was the peach Jareth had given him. 

She glanced at him quickly before looking back down at where her feet were going, “give me what?”

He was going to flounder, he knew it. Mentally psyching himself out, he accidently tripped. Y/N’s hand shot out quickly, grabbing onto Hoggle to support him. This sudden shift threw her off balance, she yelled for him as the brick she stepped on fell. They both fell, actually, but the bog wasn’t underneath them; Ludo was. The gentle giant broke their fall as they slid onto a sandy shoreline.

“Ludo!” Y/N cried, a large grin on her face. She stood, her hand placed comfortingly on his back.

“Eh, smell.” He complained, and she couldn’t blame him. They were on the bog’s beach and it smelled horribly, but she didn’t hear the grousing of another she had become familiar with. 

“Where’s Hoggle?”

Muffled yelling soon drew her attention to Ludo, or more accurately, under Ludo. 

His little legs kicked the sand, “get off of me!”

Ludo pushed his body forward, and Y/N took hold of his arm, helping him stand. Hoggle found it much easier to get up, he scrambled away — gasping for air. When he turned around, he screamed, not expecting the giant to be so, well, _giant_! And Ludo didn’t expect to be yelled at, causing him to yell too.

“Oh no, it’s okay!” Y/N explained. Holding onto Ludo’s side, she gestured toward him, “this is Ludo, he’s a friend too.” By gesturing, she wafted the stench toward her face — yuck! Covering her nose, she grimaced.

“A what?!” 

Ludo slumped and cried, “smell!” 

“Ugh, you’re right!” It was much worse down here. The bog bubbled, seeming to be sentient. Or, at least, it could tell when there were people nearby.

Hoggle plugged his nose, “oh my, guh— _bluh_!” Unplugging his nose, he gasped dramatically and waved his arms around as if that would provide some relief.

Across the bog, Y/N spotted a bridge. It was falling apart and halfway under the water, but it was better than climbing back up the wall. “There’s a bridge, come on.” The sky luminesced white, like paper with charcoal written clouds. It was getting later, and the kelp like vines that hung down from the dead trees casted long shadows.

Stepping lightly, they made their way toward the bridge by walking on the dirt shore. Crows hopped around from tree to tree, unbothered by the stench.

“Watch it,” Hoggle warned, “you step in this stuff and you’ll stink forever.”

Carefully sidestepping, they each maneuvered their way onto the bridge without getting any bog water splashed on them. Sighing in relief, they were ready to run across and get away from the horrific stench. “Stop!” Well, there goes that dream. A goblin, in the form of a dog, hopped out from inside a nearby tree and blocked their way. He had fluffy brown fur, with white on the tips of his whiskers and eyebrows. And to top it all off, he wore a musketeer’s uniform with a little staff, and tricorn atop his head. “Stop, I say!” 

A sullen look crossed Y/N’s face, “please, we have to get across.”

“Without my permission, no one may cross.” 

“Please,” she begged, “I only have a little time left.” 

Hoggle was struggling to keep himself calm, he could only hold his breath for so long, “we’ve gotta get out of this stench!”

“Smell bad!” Ludo agreed.

“Stench?” The goblin dog seemed surprised, “of what speaketh thou?”

“The smell.” Y/N thought it was self explanatory, waving her arms around in the polluted air.

“I smell nothing.”

Hoggle’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head, “no, you’re joking.” 

“But I live by my sense of smell!” He said, sniffing the air above him before his head drifted down dreamily, “ah, the air is sweet and fragrant.” But his starry-eyed demeanor quickly changed as he yelled, “ _and none may cross without my permission_!”

Ludo cried out again, “smell bad!”

“Oh, get out of my way!” Hoggle growled, charging at the goblin that blocked their way. 

“I warn thee,” he cautioned, “I am sworn to do my duty.” Poking him with his staff, Hoggle grunted.

Growing more anxious by the second, Y/N bounced on her heels, “come on, let us get across.” 

“Hold!” The dog yelled, pushing them back with his staff. While Hoggle and Y/N got the message, Ludo hadn’t backed up fast enough. The smaller goblin lunged forward, stabbing the gentle giant in the gut. Groaning, Ludo grabbed onto the little goblin’s staff and raised him up into the air. “Listen, I don’t want to have to hurt you!” He added through clenched teeth.

Unable to handle the stench any longer, Hoggle took this opportunity to run across the bridge.

“Hoggle!” Y/N called, “what are you doing?”

Hoggle had left her again, and her heart sank. While they had grown closer as friends after he saved her from the fireys, it seemed that he really didn’t understand how to treat a friend.

“Let go of my staff, sir!” Ludo dropped the creature per his request, only to receive a big whack to the knee, “ha, ha!” Running off, the little goblin circled Ludo, using his red fluff to climb up his back. “Alright then! I can conquer this mountain.” He said to himself before slapping the top of Ludo’s head repeatedly.

Y/N cringed with her nose covered, but she determined that it was better to just let them work it out (even if that meant they must whack each other). She felt helpless, especially without someone as level-headed as her.

Ludo swung the little dog in front of him, watching the creature hang onto him by his ears. Reaching up to pull him off, Ludo was surprised when the dog started biting his fingers.

If Y/N had a nickel for everytime someone had been bitten, she’d have two nickels. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice. 

Flinging the dog off did nothing to deter the little creature, for he quickly ran back over to Ludo — whacking him until the giant picked up a loose tree trunk. Ludo swung once, but the dog moved. He swung again, but missed again.

“Ha, ha!” The dog taunted, “give up, huh?” 

Ludo kept swinging, ignoring the taunts, but he missed every time. Yet, on the next swing, the yappy dog stopped teasing — he was quiet. Because he was climbing up the inside of the trunk. 

“Enough!” The dog said, not wanting to receive another blow, “before this day, never have I met my match in battle. Yet, this noble knight has brought me to a standstill.” 

Y/N exhaled, relieved, “are you alright, Ludo?”

“Smell!” Yeah, he was fine.

“Sir Ludo, if that’s thy name, now I, Sir Didymus, yield to thee. Come, let us be brothers henceforth, and fight for the right as one!”

Ludo helped the dog, Sir Didymus, out of the tree and sat him back down on the bridge.

Didymus nodded showing his gratitude, “oh, thank you very much.”

“Ludo get brother.”

“Well met, Sir Ludo.” 

Y/N nodded, ushering them along. The smell was starting to give her a headache, “good, come on.”

“Wait a minute!” Didymus stepped in front of her, stopping her, “you forget my sacred vow, my lady! I can not let you pass.”

“But you just said Ludo was your brother,” she furrowed her brows, the corners of her lips downturning.

Ludo wasn’t pleased either, “yeah.”

“I have taken an oath,” he explained, “and I must defend it to the death.”

“Smell!”

She shook her head, placing a comforting hand on Ludo’s arm, “okay, let’s handle this thing logically.” Y/N turned back to Didymus, “what exactly have you sworn?”

“I have sworn with my life’s blood that no one shall pass this way without my permission.”

Ludo grunted softly, looking to Y/N to make sure that the little dog was being serious. 

“Well,” she said slowly, dragging out the two L’s even further. “May we have your permission?”

“I, uh…” Didymus looked as though nobody had ever asked him that before, and he paused for a long time before saying, “yes?”

“Thank you, noble sir!”

Didymus took off his tricorn and bowed at the waist, “my lady.”

Running past him, Y/N was excited to see how close they were getting, but what was placed in front of her wasn’t the grand bridge she had been expecting. She slowed, it was just a plank of wood with flimsy guard rails beyond the decorated entryway. Stepping tentatively onto the plank, she placed half of her weight on it. When it didn’t move she stepped onto it completely, making her way to the middle — where it bobbed up and down, “uh oh.”

“Have no fear, sweet lady!” Didymus called, “this bridge has lasted for a thousand years.” He pounded the end of the bridge with his staff; to prove his point, she figured. Only it didn’t really do that, it shook the plank even more and knocked the guard rails clean off. 

Y/N screamed and grabbed onto a dangling branch as the plank snapped, falling into the bog below with a splash. 

Didymus’ eyes widened, “…it seemed solid enough.”

Looking around desperately, Y/N noticed Hoggle making his way back over to the edge. He was probably wondering what had been taking them so long. Well, he was about to find out, “Hoggle!” She cried, trying not to swing around too much.

His jaw dropped.

“Fear not, fair maiden! I will save thee…” Didymus gaped, “somehow?”

Behind him, Ludo howled.

“Sir Ludo! Canst thou sit by and howl when your maiden needs our help?”

Ludo didn’t stop, he howled until a large boulder came rolling toward them. It rolled into the bog, stopping just under Y/N’s feet, giving her the confidence to let go. Landing on the rock, her shoulders slumped — relaxed. 

Howling until more rocks popped up, forming a stepping stone walkway, Ludo tipped his head to the side.

“That’s incredible, Ludo!” 

“My brother!” Didymus exclaimed, “canst thou summon up the very rocks?”

“Sure,” Ludo shrugged, “rocks friends.” 

Holding his breath, Hoggle made his way over to Y/N at the end of the rock bridge.

“Hoggle,” she hopped across the rocks, meeting him there.

He reached out for her, “here.”

She grabbed onto his hand, “thank you, Hoggle.”

Ludo hobbled over to the bridge, starting to cross, himself.

“Careful, Ludo.” Y/N called, now standing next to Hoggle on the other side.

“Sir Ludo, wait for me!” Didymus added, turning to call someone, “Ambrosius? It’s alright, Ambrosius, you can come out now. Come on, attaboy!” A Maine Coon that looked suspiciously like Y/N’s cat, Merlin, came trotting out with a little saddle on his back. “My loyal steed, steady.” He hopped onto the cat’s back, “that’s it, forward!” 

Ludo, Didymus, and Ambrosius crossed the stone path as the bog spat and bubbled. Helping them get on dry land, Y/N shouted, “let’s get out of here!” She ran, and she was followed by all — except Hoggle. 

Hoggle stayed behind. In his hand was the peach that Jareth had given him, he passed it between his palms and sighed. He looked up and when he felt he was truly alone he held out the peach, hovering it over the bog.

“ **I wouldn’t do that if I were you**!” Jareth’s voice echoed around him, causing him to shrink back into himself.

“Oh, please,” he whimpered, “I can’t give it to her.” By his feet, the bog spat until he tucked the peach back into his pocket and ran away. 

Y/N, Ludo, Didymus, and Ambrosius made their way through a forest, a forest like the one before, but this time there was no humidity. There were no frogs or birds, just eerie silence and a low rumbling fog. 

Y/N lagged for a moment, allowing Didymus to trot by her on Ambrosius, “well, come on then, we should reach the castle well before day.” Picking up her speed, she walked side by side with Ludo. She was getting hungry.

Inside the castle, which was far closer than it ever had been before, Jareth held Toby on his lap — showing him a crystal which displayed Y/N on her journey to rescue him. Toby watched the crystal lazily, resting his head on Jareth’s chest. 

“Look, Y/N.” The Goblin King murmured, holding the orb up to her baby brother, “is this what you’re trying to find?”

Toby babbled, clapping his hands as he snuggled further into the King. 

He grinned, “so much trouble over such a little thing. But not for long, she’ll soon forget all about you, my fine follow. Just as soon as Hoggle gives her my present, then she’ll forget… _everything_.”

Back in the forest Didymus’ stomach rumbled, “is that my stomach or yours, Ambrosius?”

“Hungry.” Ludo agreed.

“Yeah,” Y/N sighed, “well, we can’t stop now. Maybe we can find some berries or something?”

Hoggle jogged a little faster at hearing her plight, “uh, Y/N?”

“Yeah?”

“Uh, here.” He held out the peach, offering it to her.

Her face lit up, “aw, Hoggle!” She took the peach from him, its fuzz soothingly brushing against her palm. “Thank you, you’re a lifesaver!” Giving the peach a cool toss (like Jareth would), she took a big bite. Expecting a sweet flavor, she was unpleasantly surprised when a bitter taste coated her tongue. She pulled the fruit away from her face and complained, “this tastes strange.”

Hoggle frightened, backing away in a panic. 

Looking around, Y/N watched the world start to blur and spin around her, “Hoggle, what have you done?”

“Oh, damn you, Jareth.” He groaned, “and damn me too!” He ran away, an extremely nasty habit that she didn’t know if he’d ever break. 

Releasing a shaky breath, Y/N stumbled over to a tree that stood by itself. She felt like she was spinning, though she had been standing still the entire time, “everything’s dancing.” 

On a windowsill overlooking the Goblin City, Jareth sat twirling crystals. Three circled around in his hand, supporting a salutary dream; the dream of his Y/N. Plucking it off the top, he blew them one by one into the dark evening sky. 

They were floating like bubbles above Y/N’s head, she looked up from where she was sitting and leaned against the tree that helped keep her upright, ushering the crystals toward her.

The orb that flew toward her first depicted her twirling in a luxurious pearlescent dress, _her dream_. 

Breaking through the brush, Ludo, Didymus, and Ambrosius had the castle in their sights. 

“Whoa, Ambrosius, woah!” Didymus said, stopping his furry friend. “The castle doth lie yonder, my lady.” He turned back, but didn’t see Y/N, “my lady?” 

Ludo noticed that Hoggle was nowhere to be seen either, he let out a low rumble and stepped back into the forest. A crystal bubble floated past them, and though they couldn’t see it from the ground, a masked ball raged on inside.

Didymus, close behind Ludo, frowned and jumped off Ambrosius; shouting, “my lady!”


	8. Falling in Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dream that Jareth offered you twelve hours ago is about to come true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of this chapter was inspired by the script’s first draft, as well as the novelization! This is also where the plot begins to stray from the movie.

The bubble’s ballroom had seen quite a few parties in its day. While the Labyrinth appeared relatively timeless, this ballroom gave away its age. Wax stalactites held the glass chandeliers in place after dripping for what must’ve been centuries, yet the candles that lit the room still stood tall. 

Silk covered the walls as a form of wallpaper. Upward, toward the ceiling, it reflected bright as though it had been placed there yesterday — while further toward the bottom, where it was within reach, the silk faded into nothing. 

Clusters of hollow glass bubbles were hanging off the stationary chandeliers, reminding everyone in attendance that this party was courtesy of the King and his infatuation with crystals and a certain girl named Y/N. 

Said girl stood alone in a dark hallway, staring up at a set of glass double doors. The glass had been fogged, but she could still see light breaking through from the other side and hear the soft draw of music. Had she been invited to a party? When she tried to think about getting an invite in the week prior, her head hurt. She couldn’t remember anything beyond this point. 

Behind her an inky darkness swam, offering her a glimpse into the unknown. Swallowing hard, she held up her hand and pushed against the door; without a sound, it flew open flawlessly. 

The music changed as she stepped inside the ballroom, _everything_ changed. 

Magnificently dressed dancers swirled to the new music around an eighteenth century dance floor. Y/N was absolutely dazzled, but what she couldn’t see was the dirt that dusted the crown molded corners and the odd stench of decay covered by heavily applied talcum powder. 

Guests, wearing masks shaped into debonair goblin faces (glorified parodies), dressed in secretively provocative ways. Women baring their entire décolletage while at first glance normal, took on a new context when the men they were dancing with dipped their faces down to take a bite into the forbidden fruit. These men wore their flowing white shirts open to the waist, with their pants fitted and tight. 

She felt terribly underdressed in her shirt and…jeans? Without noticing, her wardrobe had changed into something far more formal. Y/N now wore an iridescent pearl dress that had a fitted bodice covered in jewels and beads, and skirts that draped gracefully off several layers of under fluff hit just above her ankles. It too hung off her shoulders, as the other ladies’ dresses had, the only difference being that her bodice stayed in place high on her chest. Large sleeves puffed out just under her shoulder blade and thinned out around her elbow, the thin part going well past her wrist.

Although she couldn’t see her feet with the large skirt, she felt the subtle pinch of a dancing shoe. On her left sleeve a yellow flower was stitched in place, matching the discolored beads on the necklace that paired well with her dangling diamond earrings and the embellishments on her bodice. Opalescent tinsel twirled around strands of beautiful H/C hair, decorative jewels and beads hung around there too — clinking near her ear. 

Confidence radiated off of her once she looked up and stepped into the crowd to the side of the dance floor. A few women glanced at her through their lashes, and men ogled her. One man in particular couldn’t look away; that man? The Goblin King. 

The crowd split in two, creating a path between Y/N and Jareth. She slowed to a stop and looked across the room (following the path), finally realizing why she had been getting so many stares. 

The King removed his black skull mask and they beheld each other in a romantic stupor. Jareth wore a midnight sapphire jacket with a scattering of rainbow sequins, it was the same blue from the lining of the cape he wore from their first meeting. His makeup was dewy and bright, much more glamorous — and she wondered if her makeup looked the same? Beside his jacket, he wore matte black pants and boots, offset by white gloves and a puffy white cravat. 

They were complete opposites…

Feeling they had pined long enough, the crowd merged back together. Cutting them off and stirring Y/N up, as if she were a lone ice cube in an exotic drink. 

Climbing up a set of stairs, she was approached by a middle-age man who had a box hanging at waist height from a ribbon around his neck. It looked like the music box that sat on her vanity back home, the one that had helped her restore light to her dream. Though, she couldn’t recall the memory, herself. Everything beyond this point felt fuzzy, like a peach resting in her hand.

“May I?”

With a sinister smile the man threw open the lid and revealed a carved wooden snake, he playfully bounced the toy after scaring her, his grin never fading.

She had jumped, tripping over the length of her skirt. Stumbling, Y/N almost fell on top of a couple sitting on a marble bench. On the lap of a man with a long nosed mask, a woman threw her head back and laughed at the girl they deemed a mere child. Apologizing, she backed away, no longer wanting to hang around on the staircase.

Away from the elevated chaos, she caught another glimpse of Jareth. He danced with another woman — she was beautiful and tall, like a willow tree. But just as quickly as she’d found him, they were out of sight again. Letting out a long breath, she continued to move, not realizing that he had appeared behind her — seeking her out.

She stayed close to the wall, watching dancers from the outskirts of the room. With little shame she began looking for the Goblin King on her own, but every time she thought she was getting closer she’d be jostled by a debauched admirer, or pushed out of the way by laughing women. 

During one of those particular events, Y/N was knocked against the wall. A door creaked by her head, but remained slightly ajar. Peering inside, she saw feathers from down pillows flying about the air and several people mixed in with them, but she truly couldn’t tell what they were up to. Just as she was about to back away, a woman came up to the door and winked at her. Embarrassed due to sudden realization, her face grew hot as the door was closed.

What was this place? 

Hadn’t she been doing something before..?

Jareth had somehow gotten up onto one of the platforms that overlooked the whole room, and while observing everyone he decided that this was his moment. He descended the grand staircase; a few women clung to him, begging him to stay and entertain them, but he ignored them and carried on. 

Confused, and frankly a little claustrophobic, Y/N began pushing her way through the thick crowd. She just needed to find that door she had come in through, then she’d have time to collect her thoughts. However, when she looked up again she didn’t find the door, she found the Goblin King. 

She froze, and he used that to his advantage. He walked toward her, easily slipping his arm around her waist. Drawing her close, he clasped their hands and she intertwined them, beginning their dance.

“ _As the pain sweeps through, it makes no sense for you_.” Jareth sang as they swirled together, merging with the other guests as he guided her onto the dance floor. “ _Every thrill is gone_.” Longing for something she couldn’t name, Y/N clung to him, watching his uneven pupils bounce from her gaze down to her lips. “ _Wasn’t too much fun at all, but I’ll be there for you as the world falls down_.”

All together, as if on cue, the other party goers started circling them. She broke their eye contact to watch these other people laugh at her. Laughing, why was it always laughing? Her hand tightened around his, anxious and angry, when she noticed a large timepiece hanging above them all.

She only had one hour left, but an hour until what? She had forgotten.

Pulling her more snuggly against his chest, Jareth leaned his face in closer to hers in a last desperate ploy he was sure would fail. 

Quickly proving him wrong, however, she let go. Closing her eyes and angling her face up toward him, she allowed her mind to stop racing with thoughts of the forgotten. 

He felt his heart beating loud as thunder when he met her the rest of the way, kissing her in front of his high society human subjects. Well, they had stopped laughing now. Y/N kissed him back, her hand pulling away from his to slide up his velvet covered arm. Parting her lips slightly, she caressed his cheek, allowing him to squish her into a warm embrace. 

As soon as they parted, everything changed, the world around them cracked like shattered glass. She gasped as the ground beneath her crumbled into nothing, pulling her from his arms and sucking her into a black void.


	9. It’s Only Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoggle may be a coward, but he’s your best friend.

Hoggle was sitting by a small fire amongst a vast junkyard. He watched the flames lick the air before sighing, “she’ll never forgive me. What have I done?” Sinking further into the trash, he looked up at the night sky, “I’ve lost my only friend, that’s what I’ve done.”

Several trash piles away, Y/N woke up surrounded by junk. Her brows furrowed as she stretched out, jostling herself awake. Things came back in fragments, the newest memories coming first. Touching her lips, she winced and looked around, “what was I doing?”

In her other hand was the half eaten peach. It had started browning around the bite mark, and in the center a slimy little bug popped out. Gagging, she threw the peach as far away as she could — a disgusted shiver crawling up her back.

Jareth stood with his back toward the window he once gazed out of. He covered his lips with one hand while holding the yellow flower from her sleeve in the other. Had she really kissed him? He hadn’t been the one dreaming?

Further inside the castle Toby whined, causing the King’s gaze to shoot up. Carefully placing the fabric flower in his breast pocket, he walked away from the windowsill.

Shaking her head, Y/N pushed herself up, still in a daze. The junk pile beneath her rumbled and started turning itself, revealing that she had used a woman’s back to push herself up.

“Ah! Get off my back!” She yelled, looking up at Y/N. “Why don’t you look where you’re going young woman, hm?”

“I was looking…” Y/N whispered, turning away from the woman made of junk.

“Huh? And where were ya goin’, hm?”

Rubbing her eyes, she shook her head and replied, “I don’t remember.”

“You can’t look where you’re goin’ if you don’t know where you’re goin’.” 

“I was searching for something.” 

Out of nowhere the junk lady pulled out a teddy bear, “well, look here!” 

Y/N took the bear from her, looking at it before something clicked, “Lancelot?” Hugging the bear to her chest she turned to the woman, still in a daze, and thanked her.

“That’s what you were looking for. Wasn’t it, my dear?”

“Yes,” she exhaled longingly, “I forgot.”

“Now, why don’t you come in here and see if there’s anything else you like, hm?” The junk lady cackled as she waddled over to a large pile of trash. Squished somewhere within the pile was a rod, and from it hung a velvet curtain. She pushed it open, letting Y/N go in first.

Ducking her head, she stepped inside what she thought was going to be a hollowed out trash dome — but instead it was her room (just as she had left it). 

“Wow!” She exclaimed, twirling to take it all in. Hugging Lancelot tighter, she flopped down onto her bed. Hiding her face in her pillow, she breathed in the familiar scent of home. After a few moments had passed, she sat up — Lancelot permanently being cradled in her arms. “It was just a dream.” She said to herself, then looked down at the bear, “I dreamt it all, Lancelot.” But it was so real… 

Y/N looked around awhile longer, allowing herself to believe that she really was back in her bedroom. “Let’s go see if dad’s back, okay?” 

Sliding off her bed, she took Lancelot with her to the bedroom’s door, but the junk lady was still there — standing in the junkyard.

“Better to stay in here, dear.” She began, “yes, there’s nothing you want out there, no, oh no.” Walking in without being invited, the lady looked around Y/N’s room. “Oh, what have we got here?”

“Lancelot…” Y/N worried for her bear, feeling the sudden jolt of panic return. What was she forgetting?

Why was she still there?

The junk lady dug through her toy chest, inspecting everything she found, “oh, your little bunny rabbit! You like your little bunny rabbit, don’t you? Yes, yes, yes,” she gave Y/N the rabbit to hold, “there you go.” 

Standing in front of the lady, she watched as they went through her chest together.

“Ooh! There’s Betsy Boo, you remember Betsy Boo, don’t you?”

Taking her doll too, Y/N watched as the lady moved to another side of her room. 

“Hm, now then, what else have we got?”

Sitting down at her vanity, Y/N let out a sigh. She couldn’t understand why her legs were hurting so much, she had been sleeping — not walking. Hadn’t she?

“What’s this?” The junk lady said, now behind her, “let’s have a look…ooh, it’s a pencil box! Got a lot of pencils in it, too. And, oh!” She set the pencil case on the vanity and picked up her circlet, “here’s your golden headband. You know how much you love your headband, you never wanted it thrown away, do ya?” She placed the circlet on her head, making sure it wasn’t crooked before she moved on. “There we are, that’s right. Okay, now what else? Oh, it’s little horsey! You love little horsey, don’t ya, dear? And look at this, you have a printing game!”

She looked down at Lancelot and frowned. What was all this stuff, and why was it so important? Holding what the junk lady had given her, Y/N’s head started hurting again. 

“Oh, here’s a treasure!” She shoved a tube of shimmering pink lipstick into her hands, “you’ll want that, won’t ya, my dear? Make yourself up!” 

Opening the lipstick she saw it was in perfect condition; it looked like it had never been used! Had she owned a new lipstick? “There was something I was looking for,” sitting the lipstick down, she noticed a stack of books, and pulled the first book from the top into her lap. It’s cover simply said ‘ _The Labyrinth_ ’ in gold script.

“Don’t talk nonsense, it’s all here! Everything in the world you’ve ever cared about is all right here, hm.”

Opening the book to a random page she began reading aloud, “through dangers untold…”

The junk lady paused for a moment, leaning in to listen.

“…and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back the child that you have stolen…”

“Huh?” The lady jumped, “what’s the matter, my dear? Don’t you like your toys?”

Looking around frantically, Y/N shook her head. _Toby_! “It’s all junk!”

The junk lady panicked, “well, what about this?” She held up her music box; as it had always been, the dancer inside the music box resembled Y/N heavily. Her same S/C skin, H/C hair, and more recently — the ball gown she had worn to dance with Jareth. “This is not junk.”

She took it, gazing at the mini version of herself before throwing it hard against the wall. The glass shattered, “yes, it is!” She stood, shaking the toys off of her and pulling the circlet from her head. Her room shook, and she placed Lancelot against her mirror as she pushed herself away, “I have to save Toby!”

Everything around her started to crumble. Stepping onto the chair that came with her vanity, she took a leap of faith and jumped to a rather large hole forming in her ceiling. 

Standing on the trash above her bedroom’s replica, Sir Didymus gasped in surprise, “my lady!”

“Y/N!” Ludo hummed, swinging his arm down to help pull her out of the hole.

“Fair maiden,” Didymus exclaimed, “thank goodness thou is saved at last!”

She wobbled, finding her balance before asking, “where are we?”

“Lady, look, we’re almost there!” He pointed in the opposite direction, “those are the gates to the Goblin City.”

Her eyes widened in delight, “Ludo, Sir Didymus — let’s go quickly! We don’t have much time.” 

Ludo nodded, “yeah.” 

“Right! Ambrosius, forward.” 

Hoggle hid behind a decently sized pile of junk, he watched as the group made their way into the city. “Oh no,” he murmured to himself, the shame clear on his face. 

Ludo, Didymus, and Y/N slide down from the pile of junk, now at the gates of the Goblin City. The gate’s archway was very rounded and above it, there was a large hole — allowing them to get a peep of the city. Asleep in that archway, a guard.

“Open up!” Didymus yelled up to him, “open the doors!”

Y/N jumped, quickly bending down to the dog’s level, “shh! Sir Didymus, we must go quietly.” 

He must have thought that he knew best; jumping off Ambrosius, he ignored her and pounded on the gate with his staff. Ambrosius ‘murr-ow’d loudly at the noise, hiding behind Ludo.

“Open up, open up right now!”

“Sir Didymus, you’ll wake the guard!” She shouted in a voice quieter than his.

Didymus ignored her (or simply didn’t hear her) and kept beating on the gate.

“Be quiet!” She finally snapped, watching in horror as he beat on the guard’s helmet, “stop!”

The guard stirred, mumbling something incoherent before falling back asleep.

“I shall fight you all to the death!” The guard’s helmet clanked once it was hit again, “ha!” 

Y/N finally grabbed Didymus by the shoulder’s, “please, Didymus!” She begged, lowering her voice again, “for my sake, _hush_.” 

He tilted his head, his tone softening, “but of course. For thee, anything. But,” he lowered his voice even more, shifting his gaze back and forth, “I’m not a coward?”

She shook her head, “no.” 

“And my sense of smell is keen?”

Y/N grinned, “oh, yes.”

He perked, “then I should fight anyone, anywhere, anyplace, anytime!” 

Barking excitedly, she was forced to gently close his snout. “Yes, yes, we all know. Now, hush. We must go quietly.” Letting his snout go, she gave him a gentle pat.

He was well pleased with the sign of affection, and puffed his chest while waving his arm. “Ambrosius, be quiet now.” He whispered, and the cat purred in response. They entered through the gates quietly, but after only a second of silence, Didymus grumbled; “I don’t see why we have to be so quiet. It’s only the Goblin City.”

“Yeah, but I sense trouble.” She murmured, ready to creep through the city — until the gate behind them slammed shut. Ludo growled, and with a nervous heartbeat Y/N took his hand, “come on, Ludo.”

In front of them a large stone wall with many different textures began closing in — and the more it closed in, the more the center shaped into an angry monster.

“What is that?” She gawked, taking a protective step in front of her friends. 

“Who goes?” The angry monster, which vaguely resembled a cut out sheet of cookie doe, spoke in a deep and gravelly voice.

Didymus barked at the monster, accompanied by Ambrosius’ hissing. 

Going back to the cookie analogy, the monster separated itself from the door like when you pull the excess doe away from your cookie shape. Which, in this instance, was far more terrifying than the joy of baking a delicious confectionery. The wall monster stepped forward, shaking the ground beneath him, “who goes?” It boomed, causing the gang to back away from it.

Y/N backed up faster, suddenly hyperaware of her mortality, only to be stopped by spikes that lurched out of the ground behind them.

“Who goes?” The wall monster repeated. When he didn’t receive a response from any of them, he bent down and grabbed an axe that had been leaning against a far wall.

Ludo growled, and Didymus barked — ready to defend themselves.

However, Y/N was not convinced, “watch out!” She cried as the wall monster swung its axe down toward them.

Ambrosius ran out from under Didymus, hiding behind a large pillar. Didymus watched in shock as his trusty steed left him, “Amb…Ambrosius!” He called, “Ambrosius, will you come here?”

The wall monster swung his axe back and forth, uncaring. With each swing, Y/N ducked, pulling Ludo along with her. Until the axe hit the wall, shooting off sparks.

Meanwhile, Sir Didymus was off to the side trying to inspire courage in his cat. “Ambrosius, would you please come over here? You’re embarrassing me!”

Standing cautiously with Ludo, Y/N heard pattering from on top of the wall. Looking up she saw Hoggle running toward the monster, determination in his eyes. 

“Hoggle!” 

Ludo looked up too, “huh?”

Hoggle leaped onto the wall monster’s head, wrestling with its head until he knocked it off, and it fell to the ground. A little goblin sat inside the monster’s head, they had been the one controlling all its movements. “Oh, get out of there.” Hoggle grunted, exasperated. He jumped inside the cockpit and physically forced the goblin out.

“Ah!” The goblin screamed as they hit the ground below. It quickly stood up and shook the dust off itself, “well, that wasn’t very nice!”

Swinging an axe at them hadn’t been very nice either. Ludo thought so too, scaring the goblin off with his signature roar. 

Hoggle situated himself within the monster’s head, “okay, my turn.” He looked around, “uh, how do you drive this thing?” Struggling with the controller, Hoggle unlodged the axe from the wall and started swinging it around.

Y/N yelped, “drop the axe!”

“I’m trying!” 

“Ambrosius!” Sir Didymus whistled for his cat, oblivious to what was going on around him. “Come here at once!”

“Oh, where’s reverse?” Hoggle whined, pushing all the buttons at once. Overloading the system, the arm holding the axe shot up — getting the axe stuck in the archway above.

Gasping, she cried, “get out of there, Hoggle!”

Climbing out of the little leather chair, Hoggle looked down and jumped, “abandon ship!”

“Hoggle!”

The wall monster blew up, the energy pushing them all to the ground (all except Didymus and Ambrosius, who still stood by the wall’s edge).

Y/N scrambled to get up, “oh, Hoggle! Are you alright?”

Hoggle looked up at her, quickly spilling out what he wanted to say, “I’m not asking to be forgiven. I ain’t ashamed of nothing I did, but Jareth made me give you that peach! I don’t care what you think of me, I told ya I was a coward. And I ain’t interested in being friends.”

She watched him as he spoke, a genuine sincerity in her E/C eyes when she said, “I forgive you, Hoggle.” 

“You do?” 

“And I commend you!” Didymus said, finally getting Ambrosius away from the wall. “Rarely have I seen such courage. You are a valiant man, Sir Hoggle.”

“I am?”

“Hoggle and Ludo friends.” Ludo hummed.

“We are?”

“Yeah!” He confirmed.

Smiling, Y/N took out his jewel pouch, “here are your things, Hoggle.” She handed them over, “thanks for your help.”

Hoggle gazed up at her, admiration swimming within his heart. “Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get that rat who calls himself ‘Jareth’!”

Y/N ran in first, everyone following behind her. Blocking them from the Goblin City was yet another door, she pushed against it — and with Ludo’s help it swung open.

They were finally there! And they wasted no time making their way to the castle. As they walked, she took in the sights; the Goblin City was incredibly rundown. A few ramshackle cottages sat hiding in the shadows of their neighbors, and winding stone lanes slotted between them, acting as makeshift roads. Each building had pointed thatched roofs, and the windows looked as if they were especially built to confuse the eye — did these houses have multiple floors or not?

A cat scurried across one of the lanes as they tiptoed through the marketplace. It was dawn, and the city was asleep. Leaving a wide flight of steps completely empty, that was the main entrance to the castle. 

_She was going to make it_.


	10. Not Long At All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You can’t stay in the Underground. However, that doesn’t mean you want to forget everything that’s happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year!

Counting down, the clock in the castle showed that our brave protagonist only had fifteen minutes left.

Jareth sat on his throne with Toby in his lap, a common occurrence by now. He had long since shaken the feeling of Y/N on his lips, yet he still had to force an air of ease around the baby. 

Cooing at the child, he was interrupted when a goblin messenger barged in baring important news. “Your highness!” He panicked, bowing quickly, “your highness, the girl!”

Jareth was smiling still, “what?” He expected that she had just woken up in the junkyard, already too late.

“The girl who ate the peach and who forgot everything!”

What other girl would there have been? “What of her?” He lulled, a growing agitation clear in his voice.

“She’s here with the monster, Sir Didymus, and the dwarf. They’re waiting for you!”

With Toby safe in his arms, the Goblin King launched himself up into the air, “what?!”

The messenger panicked further, frantically managing to get out that, “they got through the gates and they’re on their way to the castle!”

Taking the stairs two at a time, Jareth descended, “stop her! Call out the guards.” He handed Toby off to one of the other goblins, “take the baby and hide it. She must be stopped. Do something!”

Goblins began running every which way, bringing the castle back to its former rowdiness. 

“Come on, move!”

They charge out of the castle, ready to stop Y/N and her company.

Y/N and her company, however, were the exact opposite of their enemies. Calmly passing through the Goblin City, they watched the sky shift from late night to new morning. Purple, pink, and peach clouds were painted across the sky overhead as the group encountered a fountain at the foot of a staircase leading to a path that enters the castle. “I think we’re going to make it.” She grinned, a silent cheer ready at the back of her throat.

“Oh, piece of cake.” Hoggle chimed in. And just like the last time it had been said, something was bound to go wrong. 

Goblin soldiers start coming out from the pathway. Along with everywhere else, really. From nowhere at all. In the blink of an eye they were suddenly surrounded. Jareth nodded firmly, watching everything from the top of the castle.

“Company, halt!” The goblin that seemed to be the leader shouted, “fire!”

A war horn sounded, and all the goblins started to load and fire their small cannons. Don’t be fooled though; the cannons might’ve been small, but they packed a mighty punch — crumbling a stone wall that stood next to them.

Y/N, Hoggle, Ludo, and Didymus panicked — running in the opposite direction. “Quick, this way!” She called, ushering them down a city street. 

Didymus, however, had no fear and tried to get Ambrosius to charge the goblins. Yet, another cannon went off, and Ambrosius was far less courageous than his rider. He ran, leaving them all behind while the goblins began their chase. 

Huddling behind one of the buildings, Ludo, Hoggle, and Y/N waited for the goblins to pass. Once the coast was clear, Y/N pointed down an empty alley, “through there.” Hearing Didymus leading the goblins away from them in the distance, they ran as fast as they could toward the castle. “We have to get Didymus back over here,” she added, gasping when a cannonball flew past them. 

It stuck to the wall, revealing itself as a living creature by speaking, “I hit something, yes? No?”

Jumping away, Y/N swallowed, “okay, we have to find Didymus, now!” What felt like another random choice on top of many others, she and her friends took off down another side street. 

Didymus actually seemed to be fairing far better than them as he held out his staff, about to joust a goblin. He stared down at the creature, sneering as he shouted, “charge!” They raced toward each other, Didymus knocking them off their four legged creature. “Ha, ha! Hidy ho, ha, ha!” He laughed while not looking at what was in front of him (what was in front of him was a thatched goblin roof). Running into it, he fell and Ambrosius ran away, into the house they ran into (literally). Didymus sprang up, “Ambrosius, you coward!” 

Similar to Ambrosius, Y/N and the gang with her ran into a house to hide from the onslate of cannonballs.

“How’s Ludo gonna get in?” Hoggle asked, shutting the door behind him.

She wasn’t able to answer, head snapping to the wall as Ludo opened it like a door. He climbed in beside them and closed the wall again. Sadly, the goblins had seen, and began pounding on the house.

Groaning, Ludo popped his head through the roof to see what was going on.

A goblin soldier on the ground huffed, “you, in there! You’re surrounded.” He shouted as his comrades began firing.

“Huh?” Ludo grunted, “surrounded?”

Wising up, the goblin soldiers started poking their spears through the windows, while Y/N and Hoggle shove them away. “Ludo,” she yelled up to him, “call the rocks!”

Ludo nodded, turning to look down at all the goblins before he started howling. 

Below, Y/N and Hoggle continued to fight off the goblins trying to get in through the window. Y/N believed she was in the ‘kitchen’ of the little goblin house, finding a freshly baked pie on the counter nearby. Knocking the weapon out of the goblins hand, she shoved the pie in his face, “hungry? Here!”

Ludo’s howling grew louder, only quieting when a set of boulders started to budge. They broke through the gates and rolled toward the soldiers, causing the soldiers to run away with their metaphorical (and literal) tails tucked between their legs. 

It was absolute chaos.

“Ah!” A goblin cried, “good grief!”

Outside, where the boulders rolled amongst the goblins, a small cluster of soldiers huddled together. 

“Steady! Steady men, hold your ground.” A rock, about the size of an average goblin, rolled toward them at full speed. They all did as their leader said and stood their ground, acting as bowling pins as they were knocked over. “Okay, I take that back. Run for your life!”

“I’ve had enough,” another goblin huffed, “I’m going to bed.” If they had another goblin friend in the morning, so be it. If they had a new Goblin Queen, so be it! He was too tired to live through history, himself.

Jareth watched from above, from his window. His jaw clenched, but there was still some sort of determination in his eyes. He could still win.

Y/N, Hoggle, and Ludo left the house once the coast was clear, all the soldiers had run off. Looking around, Y/N gasped, seeing her friends in the way of a firing cannon. Grabbing and pulling them away, they watched it fly past them. 

Hoggle grinned, “ha, it missed us!”

A rock rolled and plugged up the cannon that had threatened them — causing the cannonball to jump out.

The goblin who was standing behind noticed, “hey! I just fired you.” 

“Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!”

Everywhere they turned chaos abounded; houses were being blown up, chickens were running around, and goblins were screaming. 

Amid this chaos, the three are stopped by a set of menacing soldiers. “Ha, now we have you.”

Ludo tipped his head to the side, a rock followed his movement and knocked the soldiers over. 

Huffing a laugh, Y/N ushered them on.

“Ha, ha!” Hoggle taunted, “and now you don’t.”

They continued to run, dodging another onslate of cannon attacks. A particularly pesky cannon shot bullets at them, that is until a boulder came falling from above — crushing it.

A plume of smoke swirled up from the cannon, and it coughed. “Hey,” it wheezed, “no problem… _ugh_.”

There it was, just a few steps further and they’d be inside the castle. Y/N turned and did a head count, someone was still missing, “Sir Didymus?”

“Coming!” Didymus charged through a narrow city street on Ambrosius, trotting with them as they finally reached the castle door.

She couldn’t believe it. They were actually at the castle! Holding her hands out, she pushed against the large doors, but they didn’t budge. Ludo stepped up behind her, as did Hoggle, and they all pushed together. Opening the doors to the castle beyond the Goblin City.

Ambrosius was the first to run inside, beating the group. “Whoa boy,” Didymus coaxed, “whoa, big fellow.” 

Y/N took a deep breath as she finally stepped inside. Although she hadn’t thought of the play in awhile, the castle surely did look like it popped right off a stage. Smiling sadly, she shook the thought away and held her head high, “this way.” She led them to the center point of the castle, the throne room, and for a moment she contemplated how she got them there. 

Instinct, must’ve been.

Either way, the room was empty. Only a few chickens remained, strutting around without a care in the world. 

That wasn’t very important either, Y/N didn’t see Jareth and she only had… How much time did she have? Eyes scouring the walls for a clock, panicked rippled through her body. 

Three minutes.

She only had three minutes left.

“Oh no,” she breathed, seeing a set of stairs, “that’s the only way he could’ve gone.”

Hoggle bravely waved at the others, “well then, come on!”

“Wait,” she suddenly called, her E/C eyes unmoving. “I have to face him alone.”

“What?!” Didymus yelped, “but why?”

Hoggle nodded, “yes, why?” 

It was a good question, and she had a long answer for it. She had been the one to call upon the Goblin King, asking him to take her brother away. She had been the one to believe life unfair — and even if it was, she was taking it for granted. There were so many things she could’ve said, but she’d settle for, “because that’s the way it’s done.”

“Well,” Didymus began, “if that is the way it is done, then that is the way you must do it. But, should you need us?”

“Yes,” Hoggle added softly, “should you need us?”

“I’ll call you.” Y/N smiled, her face just as soft as it had been that evening in the park. “Thank you, all of you.” 

With that, she began her ascent up the stairs.

The sound of her feet below her began to echo the further she traveled, and as soon as she reached the mouth of the room adjacent, she understood why. Hundreds of staircases filled the room, each positioned in a different way. There were stairs on the ceiling, stairs on the wall, and right above her head. Figuring they had to be purely decorative, she began walking down the first flight — deeper into the castle.

Once she crossed the threshold into the room, Jareth appeared floating (feet firmly attached to the stairs on the ceiling) and began singing. “ _How you turn my world, you precious thing_.” He jumped down as a cymbal crashed, seen only by her eardrum. He didn’t land by her though, no, not yet. He stood watching her through an archway, “ _you starve and near exhaust me_.” 

He was a master at teleportation and using his crystals to do ‘tricks of the eye’. The Goblin King was, perhaps, a master at everything. 

Could he master Y/N?

Appearing behind her, his jaw clenched, “ _everything I’ve done, I’ve done for you_.” He stepped forward, in time with her, and passed through her completely. “ _I move the stars for no one_.”

She shuddered, a cold chill crawling up her back as she was now aware of him. 

Jareth kept going, falling down onto the surface she was walking right-side up on. He ran across it singing, “ _you’ve run so long, you’ve run so far_.” And finally, he reached the edge of the surface and was brought back up. Face to face with the girl who had solved his labyrinth, “ _your eyes can be so cruel_.”

Y/N couldn’t stop the scowl that broke across her face. He had kidnapped her brother, even after she had (nicely) asked for him back. They kissed and the world had shattered around her! 

In his hand, he held a crystal. It was clear, no dream to be seen — nothing but cold reality.

She had a right to be cruel. 

“ _Just as I can be so cruel_.” Jareth threw the crystal behind him, but it didn’t shatter as she expected, it bounced. It bounced down a set of steps until it landed in a baby’s hand. Toby’s hand.

“Toby!”

“ _Though, I do believe in you_.”

She brushed past the Goblin King, no longer scared of him (or intimidated by him). All she cared about was getting her brother back.

“ _Yes, I do live without the sunlight. Love without your heartbeat_ …”

As Y/N got closer to Toby, Toby started crawling away. And the panic returned as he popped up in a doorway across the room. 

“ _I_ ,” Jareth’s expression soured in a sad sort of way, he sighed, “ _I can’t live within you_.”

She can’t give up, not when Toby’s within reach! But everywhere she turned, she never got any closer. He was there and then, _he wasn’t_. “Toby!” She cried, seeing him crawling up a flight of stairs. She raced to grab him, but once she got there — he was gone, at the other end of a different flight. “Toby?”

Tripping over herself, Y/N finally reached a point where she was positioned just above him. She was sure he’d move again if she were to run toward him. Closing her eyes, she focused on the distanced music playing and let her foot step off the edge.

She was falling when she opened her eyes again, the room breaking away around her. She felt suspended in the sky, which was a mixture of menousing shades — a black background draped in wounded red clouds. 

Although she felt suspended, her hair whipped around in the wind as she fell to the floor. The floor wasn’t really a floor at all though, it was merely a platform with pieces of broken wall staying afloat around it, but they were blurry. _Dreamy_. 

The Goblin King appeared out of the darkness, and they were now face to face with each other.

Y/N had liked Jareth, she thought. He was unfair, sure, but never cruel as he seemed to think he was. She liked Jareth, but enough was enough. “Give me the child.” 

He had stopped singing a while ago, dressed in all white. White cape, white gloves, white shirt, white pants, white boots; all white. Angelic almost, “Y/N, beware. I have been generous up until now, but I can be cruel.”

“Generous?” She scoffed, “what have you done that’s generous?”

“Everything!” He snapped, “everything that you wanted, I have done.” Beginning to circle her, Jareth continued to explain his generosity, “you ask the child to be taken, I took him. You coward before me, I was frightening. I have reordered time, I have turned the world upside down, and I have done it all for you! I’m exhausted from living up to your expectations.” He stopped in front of her, “isn’t that generous?”

Her gaze was hard, “through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City…” Y/N stepped toward him, voice even and soft. He moved back, but there was no bed to hit the back of his knees and protect him. “For my will is as strong as yours, and my—”

“Stop!” Jareth exclaimed, “wait, look Y/N! Look what I am offering you,” he held up a crystal, “your dreams.” 

Ignoring him, she continued, “and my kingdom as great.”

“I ask for so little,” he fretted. Anxiety bubbling to the surface, clear in his voice, “just let me rule you, and you can have everything that you want.”

Oh, why could she never remember the next line?

Jareth swallowed, “just fear me. Love me. Do as I say and I will be your slave!” 

His eyes were full of an emotion Y/N had never seen anyone hold for her. He stepped closer to her, slipping his arm around her waist. Drawing her close like he had at the ball, just like he had done at the ball.

But she couldn’t stay, not even when the light illuminated above them — his lashes casting long shadows over his cheeks. She can’t stay.

“You have no power over me.”

The clock struck thirteen.

Jareth’s frown deepened as he pulled away and tossed the crystal up into the sky, it was true; he had no power left. Y/N reached up and caught it, when she first held it it was solid — then it popped like a bubble, blinding her momentarily. 

Shutting her eyes tight, Y/N groaned, feeling the world shift around her. When she opened her eyes again, she was in her living room, a tear running down her cheek. She couldn’t remember crying, but the tear was heavy as the clock in her kitchen chimed.

Wiping her cheek, everything came flooding back to her, “Toby?” It was a whisper at first, but soon she was throwing herself up the carpeted staircase, “Toby!”

The door to her parent’s bedroom was closed and while she didn’t want to be melodramatic, she absolutely had to whip the door open.

In the crib, Toby slept peacefully, only stirring to rub his eye. 

Surveying the room to make sure it wasn’t the junkyard again, she noticed Lancelot sitting on the bed, right where she had left him. Picking him up, Y/N tucked him in beside her brother, “here you are. I’d like Lancelot to belong to you now.”

Turning, she left the bedroom, clicking the lights off and returning to her sanctuary. Inhaling deeply, she started with her shelf — sweeping all her toys off the top and into a cardboard box she had thought about painting like a castle. She didn’t think she’d paint it anymore. 

She left her books (for now), but collected everything that she realized weren’t very important in the long run. It wasn’t as if they’d be gone forever, Toby would be a child for a long time to come — he’d love her toys for her. 

Sitting down at her vanity, she gazed into her mirror for a few minutes, fiddling with the pages of _The Labyrinth_. She looked tired, sure, but she also looked… _new_. Y/N heard the front door unlock, and she smiled. 

“We’re home!” Her father called, “Y/N, are you home?”

Grabbing onto the book, she put it in her drawer, “yeah!” She called back, then whispered, “I’m home.” 

Finally taking her hand off the book, she shut the drawer and glanced up. Her breath was taken away when she saw Ludo standing by her door.

“Goodbye, Y/N.”

She whipped her head around, but he wasn’t there. Raw disappointment fluttered in her chest, so she turned back around slowly. And when she did, she saw Didymus!

“And remember, fair maiden, should you need us?” He murmured before disappearing.

“Yes,” Hoggle spoke up, replacing him in the mirror, “should you need us for any reason at all?”

“I need you, Hoggle.” Y/N said to the mirror.

The reflection perked up, “you do?”

“I don’t know why,” she admitted, “but every now and again in my life, for no reason at all, I’ll need you. All of you.”

“You do?” Hoggle brightened, “well, why didn’t you say so?”

Y/N turned around, seeing all of her friends from the Labyrinth in her room. Her face lit up just as Hoggle’s had, jumping up, she hugged him — lifting him and spinning him around.

Even creatures that hadn’t been so nice to her were there, like some of the goblins and the fireys. Yet, without the pressure of the Labyrinth, everyone seemed to be at peace and having a good time.

“I say,” Sir Didymus chuckled, “does anyone want to play a game of scrabble?”

Y/N laughed, missing the owl that sat on a branch outside her window. He squinted, something mysterious (and…hopeful?) filling the air up around him. His feathers ruffled as he took off, flying into the crystal moonlight.

A week later, on a warm golden evening, it wasn’t her parents who had plans to go out. 

Pushing her H/C hair back, she smiled at herself in the living room mirror’s reflection. Her father had gotten her a new lipstick; _red_ , and she wore it tonight. 

“Oh, I’m so glad you told me you have a date!” 

“Plans,” Y/N corrected her stepmother, “and I won’t be out too late, I don’t think.”

She smiled, “take all the time you need, dear.” There was something softer in her stepmother’s face, something more respectful. “I’m just glad you told me.”

In the past week Y/N had redecorated her room, changed her attitude, and even started offering to babysit Toby. Like, using her own free will! She had grown up thanks to the Labyrinth, but she was still the same Y/N.

Smiling back at her, she bent down to pet Merlin, the cat purring under her attention. “See you in an hour!” She called to her father, who was off somewhere else. The cat nibbled at her fingers and she laughed, booping his nose, “you too, Merlin.”

Outside, there was no longer a peach light, but a charming summer gold. It was refreshing, and she grinned before breaking out into a sprint. It didn’t take long for her to reach the park — to the field of flowers.

It was there she saw a man sitting on a marble bench all by himself. His hair was short and blond, neatly styled in a windswept sort of way. She admired him, biting her lip when he turned around. 

Jareth wore a silk button down, tucked in, it was pale pink — matching his belt that looped through a pair of white trousers. He looked good, _normal_.

She sat next to him, holding onto his hand after he put his arm around her. “So,” she drawled slowly, “about the ball…”

He gave her a toothy grin before pulling her into a sweet kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it, oh! And before I forget — I wish the goblins would come take all of you away right now! ;)


End file.
